Chosen
by Natasha N. Leigh
Summary: Buffy Summers has returned home, only it's no longer Sunnydale and she's not alone. With her husband and two children, she returns to River Springs completely anonymous and with a new job as a school principal of the high school where her daughter, Scarlett, attends. Scarlett is used to living in her mother's shadow, but her arrival in River Springs means a new life full of secrets
1. Prologue: Buffy, Age 40

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur  
**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

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**Prologue: Buffy, Age 40  
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I remember looking at myself in the mirror and feeling just as old as I thought I looked. Usually, I thought my age was a victory in itself. I'd earned each line, crack and crevice on my face. I'd beat the odds many times and being able to get to 39 years old was one of my rewards. That night, I didn't feel that way. I was tired and ready to succumb to what fate had in store for me, not thinking that I was already living my future. Being in my line of work, having a birthright like mine, guaranteed a short life expectancy. It had occurred to me that I'd outlived myself because I sure as hell outlived almost everyone else I loved. Now, it was very few of us left.

It was the same night in January, the night of my 39th birthday, that the police called to tell me that my soon to be 13 year old daughter, Aimee, was being questioned for her possible involvement in the murder of 255 people. Apparently, she had snuck out to a nightclub and a fire had broken out. She was the only survivor. I'd asked the officer what the name of the club was and when he'd told me, it dawned on me that the club was a known vampire hangout. Still, my only concern was seeing if my child was alright. I rushed to the police station as soon as I could and found my daughter, covered in soot and looking at me as if she'd gotten caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar. But, she was glad to see me, and the incident was never mentioned again.

When my 40th birthday rolled around, I was glad that I'd lived to be that age but I also felt 10 years older. I'd heard about River Springs about a month before and was itching to move there. I felt like I'd done everything I could in Europe and even more so, my girls had hardly seen the United States. The girls' father disagreed with me, but he couldn't say much because he wasn't the Slayer. I had to go where I was needed and another city sitting on top of the Hellmouth seemed like the best place to be. The council had been discussing the possibility of another Slayer in existence and the increase of Watchers-in-training, but they didn't have any concrete information so everything seemed pretty pointless. I positioned myself as a guidance counselor at the high school, for old times' sake. However, I learned that the Watchers' Council sent a young Watcher, straight out of the academy, to River Springs in case the possible new Slayer happened to already be there.

Aimee hated the idea of us moving out of Europe. She'd just begun to get her grades back up after we'd threatened her with boarding school, so I could understand where she was coming from. I didn't enjoy uprooting the girls, but it needed to be done. Saving the world couldn't wait for my children to grow up. Joy, in the meantime, was overly excited for the new move. Their father kept a keen eye on me and the girls, unsure of his feelings on everything. It was funny that he'd be unsure after everything we'd been through. Guess I didn't know him as well as I thought I did, which made me sad.

When we arrived in River Springs, I could feel the Hellmouth rising, looking for its revenge on me for closing it down before. Everyone else around was completely oblivious and it was fine that way for a while. Eventually, though, they were going to notice the unusual happenings, if they hadn't already. I wasn't too worried. I destroyed Sunnydale, and I would destroy River Springs if I needed to.


	2. Chapter 1: Good Morning

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur  
**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.  
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**Chapter 1: Good Morning**

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**Aimee**

Meditation never quite did it for me, though I was trying the most basic form of it at 6 in the morning. I was supposed to be asleep, but I woke up at 3 and couldn't quite get back to sleep. According to my parents, it was a big day for me. According to me, it was just another day where I was attending my freshman year at a public high school in California instead of the school I was attending in London. My parents, little sister and I relocated from the UK to River Springs, and we've only been here for three days or so. I hadn't had much time getting acquainted with the seemingly nice, quaint town, so I had no idea how I was going to get around without my parents. I was starting to believe they planned it that way. I had been bit of a wild child back in London, much to the ire of my parents. Now, they kept a very keen eye on me. After my dad got his corneal implant, his eyes were always on me.

I hated being supervised all of the time, but I knew that they couldn't possibly watch me all of the time now that my dad was a professor at the local college. My mom, however, was the new principal at my school, so that was going to be tough. Still, my parents were notorious for staying at school late to finish up paperwork. I was pretty sure that my parents were patrolling for vampires when they used to stay out late to "work on schoolwork."

It was hard for me not to grow up hearing about being the daughter of the greatest vampire slayer ever. It annoyed the hell out of me when everyone, including the Watchers' Council, thought I'd follow in her footsteps. Ironically, that was one reason why I was glad to be away from London. Still, being in River Springs wouldn't take away the pain of missing my friends and all the fun I used to have.

I was still in the middle of trying yoga when I heard my mom call me and my sister. "Aimee, Lexi, it's time for breakfast."

Since the downward dog was kicking my ass, I got up and headed down to the kitchen. I hoped my parents wouldn't mind that I was still in my pajamas, but I didn't really care either way. Once I reached the kitchen, my parents obviously thought otherwise because both of them were looking at me, puzzled and possibly assuming that I was going to wear Hello Kitty to school. With a smile, I sat down and said, "Good morning."

My mom, with her eyebrow raised, sat a plate of pancakes down in front of me and replied, "You're not going to school dressed like that – and before you make a case not to even go to school today, I'm going to go ahead and tell you it's not going to work."

Shot down, I rolled my eyes and started to cut my pancakes into tiny, uniformed squares because I'm a bit OCD and that's how I liked my pancakes. My little sister, Lexi, was eating cereal instead of pancakes, and she made it a habit to flash me her chewed up Cookie Crisp in an attempt to get me to enjoy the "see-food" game. Again, I rolled my eyes, and Lexi turned to my parents. "Mom, Dad. Aimee's jaded. She's so jaded."

My jaw dropped because I didn't even know a 10 year old would know what "jaded" meant, and I was also astonished because I wasn't jaded. I was just annoyed by her, and there's a difference. Thankfully, my dad brought humor to the whole jaded situation. "Alexandra, Aimee's not jaded. She's actually quite peach and pink."

The joke made no sense whatsoever, but it made my mom laugh so whatever works. As I grew older, everyone began to point out how much I looked like my mom, except I had dark hair. If my dad didn't have dark hair, then I would wonder what was going on, but I never had to question my parentage. I derived from a construction worker-cum-college history professor and a vampire slayer-cum-high school principal, and I was proud of that. Lexi, who was named after my dad, didn't really look like mom as much as I did. She looked more like dad, but she was such a cutie and I enjoyed antagonizing her like a good big sister would.

Once breakfast was over, my mom snatched my plate up, even though she hadn't eaten, and put it in the sink. I was going to ask her if she was hungry, but she picked up her car keys and shook them in my face. "You have ten minutes to shower, shave and sh—never mind. Get ready, Aimee."

I managed to let out the typical teenager groan and rushed up to my room. I rummaged through my closet, which was still a great big mess, and grabbed one of my favorite graphic T-shirts and a pair of cargos. Taking it into the bathroom with me, I took a quick shower and threw the clothes on, while braiding my wet hair into pigtails. Sticking my feet into my Doc Martens, I ran down the stairs and snatched up my brand new messenger bag as I was heading out the door. Before I could, though, I saw my father and ran back to give him a kiss on the cheek before rushing to the car and jumping in the back seat. There used to be a time when my sister calling shotgun would annoy me, but I didn't mind being in the backseat anymore.

Dad came out to give Mom and Lexi each a kiss, and then Mom pulled out of the driveway of our new house and went cruising down the road to Lexi's school first. After Lexi was off, Mom was then going to drive to River Springs High, where we would both start our first day of school.

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**Buffy**

"Mom, when can I start to drive the car?" Aimee asked behind me as she fumbled with her iPod earphones.

I glanced at her in the rearview mirror, astonished by how her eyes were so much like her father's. "You can drive when you pass your permit test, which is not until next year."

Lexi turned around and stuck her tongue out at her sister. Aimee glanced at me and I knew that look so well. Instead of any kind of retaliation, she wanted me to do something about it, like she couldn't be bothered with telling her sister to leave her alone. I remained silent, determined to stay out of their spats. When Aimee rolled her eyes and stuck her earphones in her ears, I still kept quiet.

Aimee didn't brood a lot, but I did leave her alone when she did. I tried to be more accommodating because of the move and because she had been my entire world until I ended up pregnant with Lexi. Then, I started slaying again right after Lexi was born and I hadn't really let up. Xander was more of the hands-on parent than I was, and I didn't feel quite right being a parent to either of my girls. I was there, though, during all of the important moments like when Aimee hit puberty and when Lexi started kindergarten and when Aimee had her heart broken for the first time {in kindergarten}. Then, it seemed like all of the important moments were gone, and I was not needed anymore.

Within ten minutes, I pulled up to Oakridge Elementary School, where Lexi was now a fifth grader. I looked at my youngest daughter and she looked back at me, visibly nervous. "Mom, do I have to go in there?"

I nodded and despite the time crunch I had, I smiled at Lexi. "I can go in there if you need me to. I could walk you to your class."

Lexi hesitated and I could tell she was thinking about it. Then, she shook her head. "I'll be okay. Besides, Dad normally walks me to my classes on the first day of school."

Aimee grabbed Lexi from behind and kissed her on the cheek. "Don't worry, Lex. You're a big girl now. You'll be fine and if you need Mom, she'll be with me. All you have to do is give me a call, okay?"

Despite my effort to be Mom of the Year, Aimee got through to Lexi better. She smiled at me and her big sister, and then got out of the car with her backpack and her lunch tote. I watched as she walked further and further away from the car until she disappeared into the sea of other middle school kids. When it was just me and my oldest child, I looked at her and she climbed into the front seat. "So, you and I have never done the high school thing before."

I shook my head. "No, we haven't. Aimee, you know that I can't have all the trouble you caused last year, right?"

She nodded, but she didn't try to defend herself or anything she'd done during that time. She never did, no matter how much Xander and I tried to get her to explain her actions. I knew that I was very much like that when I started slaying my first vampires, but Aimee wasn't a Slayer. I would've known if she was. Xander would've known if she was. In a way, I had less tolerance for her antics because she wasn't a Slayer and she had no reason to do the things she'd been caught doing because she wasn't saving the world. I knew that there was a part of her that hated me because of the lack of tolerance I had towards her, but I couldn't be tolerant of that kind of behavior from my own child.

The ride to the high school was a quiet one. I was late by a few minutes, but school had yet to start for Aimee and her classmates. I pulled up to the entrance and Aimee gave me a kiss on the cheek. "You can let me out right here. I'll see you later."

I wanted to ask her if she needed lunch money, but I didn't. Aimee was a very independent girl and she was great at saving her allowances. So, I opened my mouth to tell her that I loved her, and she was already halfway through the quad. I almost started crying, almost, but I took a deep breath and drove to the parking lot. After parking my car, I got out with my bag and my suit, feeling a touch of nerves. It had been years since I'd been in a high school and I felt like I was a student again. I knew that I was ready to take care of what needed to be taken care of, but I felt a bit of dread and a part of me wondered when the house of cards I'd built up for the past 15 years would eventually fall.


	3. Chapter 2: New in School

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note: I would like to thank the people who've read and reviewed the prologue. I hope to keep you guys interested. **

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**Chapter 2: New in School  
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****Aimee**

High school is hell. There is no doubt about that but at least in London, I wasn't the new freshman girl. As I walked down the hallway of River Springs High, I felt like I was in one of those nightmares in which I was naked and everyone was going to turn and laugh at me. I felt like "Carrie," when her mother forewarned that they were all going to laugh at her. I was The New Girl and for those who'd been in River Springs since its inception, I was probably "the girl who was stupid enough to leave London for boring ole River Springs." Even if I wasn't and this was all just part of being insecure, I knew my family and I had to be the talk of the town.

My locker was sandwiched between two girls who looked almost exactly alike. I would've thought they were twins until I actually saw their faces. As it turned out, they just looked a lot alike from the faux tans {since real tanning was so twenty years ago} to their pale blonde hair to the almost identical white sundresses they were wearing. I felt out of my element, with my dark hair in pigtails and my cargos and Doc Martens planted firmly on my slightly arched feet. I was also smaller than them by a few inches, which didn't seem to be the case because of my freakishly long legs but then again, they were wearing identical espadrilles.

I excused myself as I scrunched past them to open my locker. 23-44-18 was my combination and though most sophomores in high school still have a bit of difficulty opening their combo locks, I could open mine effortlessly, which I did. I could feel the faux twins eyeing me and I wanted to turn around and tell them that they could go on with their own business, but I didn't. Instead, I looked at my schedule and emptied my backpack out until only the required materials for my first class was left. Then, I closed my locker with a clatter when I heard from one of the faux twins as she squealed, "Here they come."

I turned around just to see what the big deal was and saw a group of jocks and cheerleaders walking down the hallway. They weren't in their uniforms, but they all had their letterman jackets on. Besides, the walls in the hallways were littered with flyers for a pep rally. Today was the day where everyone was supposed to go into the gymnasium or auditorium and root the athletes on for the big football game this weekend. I wasn't a fan of football, as the game of the moment at my last school was rugby. Still, it was a little amusing to see all the girls clamoring to be seen by the jocks.

At the end of the line was the quarterback of the football team. According to faux twin #1, he'd just come to River Springs as well. He'd just been here long enough to make quarterback and gain the head cheerleader as his girlfriend. As he walked past me with his girlfriend tucked in his arm, he looked at me. I gave him a polite smile and he smiled back, but there was a glint in his eyes, like he was satisfied by my smile or he knew me. He didn't look much like a quarterback, though. His hair was a mess and he was leaner than his teammates, taller than them by a few inches. His eyes were pretty, though. I was close enough to see that they were almost dolphin gray mixed with blue. It was a nice afterthought once he'd walked away and grew further and further out of my line of vision.

Once the clamor fell to just a small rumble of students talking, I went back to getting ready for my first class. The faux twins turned to look at me and I knew they wanted to talk, but I closed my locker and it sounded like the door for conversation was now closed. I moved past them and walked down the corridor, past the stares of the students still at their lockers.

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**Buffy**

I rushed into the administrative office with my bag and the school secretary immediately greeted me with a cup of coffee. I hoped it was with extra cream and sugar because that was the only way I drank my coffee. As I walked to my office, she walked alongside me. "Hi. You must be Ms. Summers. I'm Claire, your secretary. It's so good to meet you and I can't tell you how much of a relief for you to have taken this job. I don't know what's up with the State of California, but none of their principals seemed all that enthused to take the job here after Mr. Cauffiel disappeared. Well, this is your office. I hope you like it. I know it's not like Sunnydale High, but I hope you like it."

I stopped walking and turned my head when Claire mentioned Sunnydale and she stopped alongside me, pushing her glasses against her face. "I—I'm sorry I mentioned Sunnydale. I—it's just that we looked at your school files and we noticed that you had graduated from Sunnydale High. I know hearing about Sunnydale must be a little hard for you."

I forced myself to smile a little and took the cup of coffee from her once she opened the door to my office. It didn't look much different than how Principal Wood's office looked in the old Sunnydale High School. I walked past Claire and sat down at my desk, remembering all of the times I'd been on the other side. It made me remember the slightly simpler times when I didn't have children and I didn't have to deal with the craziness that was Twilight and Sunnydale was the only problem for me.

I opened my eyes, unaware that I had closed them, and Claire was standing in front of me. She was starting to annoy me, and fast. "Uh, thank you, Claire. I would really like a moment to myself before I start work. So, do you mind if I could get a little space?"

"Sure, Ms. Summers. I'll be right outside if you need me."

I smiled tersely at her and watched as she walked out of my door, closing it behind her. There was nothing demon about her. She was overly perky and really talkative, but she was nowhere near demon. My phone vibrated in my purse and I grabbed it to see that Lexi had sent me and Xander a text message, telling us that she was alright and that she was enjoying herself in school. I hoped she would make a friend today, as it had been fairly easy for her to do so when we were in London. The text made me smile, though. It also made me anticipate a text from the daughter that was closer by.

Just as I figured, a text from Aimee came as she was sitting in her homeroom. It was short and to the point, just like Aimee herself. It just simply read, "Pep Rally l8er. Better have ur game face on. The jocks need ur motiv8tion. A."

I sat my phone down on the desk and looked at the paperwork left for me from the different teachers, telling me who their troubled students were and the attempts made to rectify the trouble these students were causing. I also noticed that Aimee's file from her previous school was also on my desk. I knew that looking at them would be a conflict of interest given that I was her mother and her principal as well, but a small part of me was tempted to open them up and get an idea of how bad the situation was, how bad _she _was. My hands ran themselves over the manila folder and I slowly raised the top flap up.

The front page was her basic information: her full name, her birthdate, her address at the time and other stuff that nobody is really interested in but will take down just for basic information purposes. When I moved the front page aside, I came across an evaluation I'd never permitted the school to do on her. According to what had been written down, the evaluation had taken place only last year. Someone had given her a physical examination and took it a little further by testing her reflexes and her skills. Those were tests I'd given my Slayers in training once they were activated. I was more than relieved to find that Aimee was, in fact, a normal girl and she didn't come across as anything out of the ordinary. I looked at the back to see whose idea it was to give my child this evaluation and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. The back was stamped by the London branch of Wolfram and Hart.

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**Aimee**

"_Class, I would like for you all to meet our new student, who hails from London. Everyone, please meet Amelia Harris. Amelia, stand up and tell the class a little bit about yourself."_

Shit. I had now introduced myself to three different sets of classmates and I thought that the last place I would be introducing myself would be my AP Geometry class. Maybe that was wishful thinking on my part.

Everyone's eyes turned towards me and I slid out of my chair, standing up exactly how my etiquette teacher told me to back when I was 9 years old. I looked around at all of the 29 other students and they looked at me like they were expecting me to wear a crown on my head since I came from England. I knew they were going to flip out when they realized I didn't have a British accent. "Hi, um, my name is Amelia Harris, like the teacher said. Everyone calls me Aimee, though. Um, I come from London, just like the teacher said, but my parents are both from California. So, I have dual citizenship, which is pretty cool. I'm really good at gymnastics and I have a pretty eclectic music collection. I guess that's it."

I slumped back down in my seat and a girl sitting two rows in front of me raised her hand. The teacher, Miss Musnick; pointed to her and said, "Casey, do you have a question for Aimee?"

Casey turned out to be another bottled blonde beauty, with a shirt on that hardly covered her practically non-existent breasts. I knew that it was pretty hot in California, but all she needed was one accidental slip and everyone was going to get a show. Besides, she made me feel like Dolly Parton. Still, I tried to be polite and not think negatively about people I didn't know. That is, until she said, "Why don't you have a British accent? Aren't you supposed to be from London or something?"

I glanced at Miss Musnick and then glanced at Casey. "I already said that both of my parents are American, so I don't have an accent."

Another person raised their hand and Miss Musnick pointed to the person. After some careful head leaning, I saw that it was another girl. Her hair was about four shades darker than Casey's platinum blonde and in a messy bun on the side of her hair with a huge sunflower stuck in the middle of the bun. She had a sweet face, one that seemed to have a perpetual smile on it. When I looked down at her feet, I saw that she was wearing green Keds along with her outfit of a black and white striped t-shirt and overalls. It was like I knew she was going to be a kindred spirit. "Hi. My name is Savannah. I just wanted to know if you liked London and if so, why did you move here?"

That was a hard question to answer, but I tried my best. "My mom got this great opportunity to be the principal here at River Springs High, so we decided to move here. I loved living in London, though. Everything there is so…busy and I guess I'm used to it. But, River Springs is a different kind of busy and I think I'll get used to it pretty quickly."

"Aren't you the girl who was responsible for burning down that nightclub in London? What are you, some kind of pyromaniac or something?"

The whole class, short of me and Savannah, started laughing or talking in hushed whispers. I wondered if shell-shocked would describe how I felt. I turned to look in the direction of the boy who said it and found him almost immediately. He had sandy brown hair and his face seemed like it could get stuck in a permanent scowl. I could've sworn I'd seen him before, but I couldn't place it, and I had no clue how he would know anything about what happened in that nightclub. It didn't even make the news. A cocky smile crooked at the side of his mouth and I shook my head as soon as I thought I recovered enough to answer him. Still, I knew that it would still be something people would talk about even if I denied it, which is what I was planning on doing. "No, that wasn't me. I don't know what you're talking about."

I turned away from him and some of the laughs and talk died down with my denial. I looked at Savannah again, and she was frowning. I was glad that someone felt bad about that outburst besides Miss Musnick, who was just now starting to shush the rest of the class. I picked up my pencil and had to sit it back down because my hand was shaking. There's nothing like being embarrassed in high school, except being embarrassed on your first day of high school.


	4. Chapter 3: Salt in the Wound

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

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**Author's Note: This chapter is very pivotal and should be pretty action packed from Chapter 4 and ahead, but I don't really know how long this fic will be. This chapter also introduces another character, whose last name is the same name of a character from another vampire based series. If you can catch, you'll get a hug.**

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**Chapter 3: Salt in the Wound**

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**A year earlier…**

_"What is going on? What happened at that club?"_

_"I don't want to talk about it, Mom. Can we just drop it?"_

_My daughter was bleeding. As Xander drove us home, I sat in the passenger seat, glancing back at Aimee and trying my best not to freak out. All I knew so far was that Aimee had been found underneath rubble at Club Sanguine and that everyone else was dead or unaccounted for. As for my daughter, she was fine except for the cut on her stomach that was much smaller than it looked from the gash in her shirt. I watched her as she looked out the window and thought about all of the trouble I went through to have her, and how special she was to me. "Amelia, do you know how much trouble I went through to have you?"_

_"Here we go again," the typical reply from my daughter. _

_"Do not make me come back there and slap you, because I will do it," my typical response when I was frustrated and at my wits' end with my oldest daughter. _

_Xander put his hand on my knee and I looked at him. Surely, he could remember everything I'd gone through before she was born. He looked at me knowingly and patted my knee twice. I turned back in my seat and all of a sudden, I knew all about the worry my mom felt once she had common knowledge of me being a Slayer. I thought I would never have to worry about my daughter because she wasn't like me, but I now realized I was wrong. _

_Common contrariness got the best of me and I turned back around towards Aimee. "Do you know how scary it is to get a call on your birthday, just to find out it's the police?"_

_"I'm sorry I ruined your birthday, Mom. Now, can we just drop it?" Aimee screamed back at me. "Lexi and I always have to worry about that when you're out patrolling, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal to you."_

_"Stop talking to your mother that way, Amelia. She's just worried about you and she just wants to know why you were at that club and what happened," Xander interjected as the voice of reason in the car. It was clearly coming to me that Aimee was just like how I was as a teenager. _

_She looked away again, her blue eyes glittering in the night sky. The rest of the drive home was quiet. She had nothing to say and thanks to Xander, neither did I._

* * *

**Buffy**_  
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It was lunchtime for half of the school, but Aimee was getting ready to go to her fifth period class. Before she did, however, she knocked on my door and opened it a crack. "Mom, can I come in?"

I gestured for her to come to my desk and she crossed the room tentatively, like she was walking on hot coals and trying not to burn her feet. She sat down across from me and I said, "So, is this something I need to take care of as the principal or as your mom?"

"I need lunch money. I forgot the money I had at home."

"Ah, a Mom thing," I replied as I looked in my purse and handed her a five dollar bill. She took it politely and then looked around my office. I think she was trying to get used to my being around all of the time during the day. To be honest, I needed to get used to it, too. "How has your day been so far, Aimee?"

"Good," she nodded. "Haven't made any friends yet, but I'm crossing my fingers. How has your day been so far?"

"Alright, I guess. I've already sent four students home. I think I'm starting to like this principal thing. It's so much different than being a guidance counselor, which I wasn't when you were growing up so you have no idea what I'm talking about."

"That's alright, Mom, I understand. Are you patrolling tonight?"

Somehow, the air in the room got completely sucked out and things between me and my daughter got completely awkward. I didn't want her to wig, but it was hard to lie to her these days, even though Xander and I made an effort to patrol once the girls were in bed after the nightclub incident back in London. It seemed as if Lexi had an easier time forgetting that I was a Slayer and that I had to leave at night to save the world, and I almost thought that Aimee had forgotten, too. I pretended to look at my papers and forgot that my daughter's file was among them. She looked at the manila folder and then at me, and I knew she probably thought I had personally plucked her file out of the others so I could keep tabs on her.

She didn't throw a tantrum, but she practically leapt out of the chair she was sitting in. "I'm late to class, and I'm pretty sure that I have to introduce myself to another set of people. See you at home, Mom."

I didn't get to say that I would be driving her home because she rushed out of the door past my secretary, who was bringing in another student. He reminded me of R.J Brooks back when Sunnydale wasn't a great big crater and River Springs was nothing but a name and a dream. The only difference between this student and R.J was the glasses and the brown hair. He had his letterman jacket on, but everything else screamed bookworm. "Ms. Summers, this is Christopher Saltzman. He said he needed to see you."

"How can I help you, Christopher?" I asked politely. He walked further into the room and Claire closed the door to my office. He didn't speak until he was sitting down in front of me. He had an honest face. I don't really know what an honest face looks like, but I do know he looked young and bright eyed. It reminded me of when I met Xander and he was so unaffected and unaware that vampires really existed.

"I actually came here to give you this letter. The coach told me to give it to you before the pep rally, so it wouldn't come as a big surprise." He handed me a letter from his mother, declaring that he would have to sit out for the first few games of the season. It didn't name a reason why he had to sit out, though. The coach had put a Post-It on the letter, telling me that I would have sign off on it because the letter didn't specify a reason. I guess he didn't want to be held responsible for any losses the team would have if Christopher Saltzman wasn't the quarterback of the team.

"You do know that your mother didn't give a reason why you had to sit out for the first few games, don't you? Did you write this yourself, Christopher?" I raised an eyebrow to make myself look super intimidating to the student in front of me.

He sighed and took off his jacket. Underneath the sleeve was a nasty wound and stitches. I was surprised it wasn't bandaged, but I assumed that he had taken the bandage off for this particular reason.

"I hurt myself pretty badly in a car accident about a week ago and I haven't gotten around to telling the coach yet because I'm the quarterback and all. The doctors said I was rather lucky to have only gotten my arm injured, but it was still pretty bad," he replied with a matter-of-fact tone in his voice.

Something was odd about him and the letter. If he had been in a car accident, he would've had cuts and bruises on him, but he was flawless except for his arm. I felt a little suspicious, but I'd figured that it was because I had to be on guard about 90 percent of the time. So, I gave Mr. Saltzman the benefit of the doubt and signed his letter, giving him the all clear to skip a few football games. It was a little strange, though, because I could've sworn his eyes were on me the entire time. I could feel it but when I looked up at him, he was looking at the family photo I'd put up to make the office feel like mine. Finally, he looked at me and turned the picture in my direction. "Is this your daughter?"

I looked at Aimee. If he thought he was going to put his grubby little stitched mitts on her, I would squeeze him to death first. "Yep, that's my Aimee."

"Cool. I saw her this morning. She looks like more like you than her father."

"Yes, she does," I replied with restraint. I wondered where he was going with this and if he was going to reach his point soon. When he sat the picture back down, his hand brushed over Aimee's file and there was a glint in his eye, a knowing glint. I frowned at him and considered staking him but then, I remembered it was daylight out and he couldn't possibly pose a threat to me or my daughter.

I handed him back his letter and suddenly, I began to wonder if I'd seen everything I thought I'd seen. When he took the letter back, he looked like a normal teenage boy who was just bringing me a letter to sign. I smiled at him, though I doubted it really reached my eyes, and he smiled at me. "Thanks, Ms. Summers. I can already tell you're going to be cooler than Mr. Cauffiel."

He stood up and headed to the door while I noticed that Claire was lingering, probably wondering what the quarterback of the football team wanted with me. When he opened the door, he turned back to look at me and smiled. "Welcome to River Springs, Ms. Summers.

With the clatter of my door closing, he was gone and I was left in my office. He left me shaken like a good martini, and I had to ask myself what I was going to do with him. Eventually, I decided to let it go and continue on with the rest of my day. I needed to get lunch some time before the day was over.

* * *

**Aimee**

My English class dragged on way too long, and the pancakes from earlier that morning didn't hold up at all, because I was starving by the time lunchtime finally came around for me and the other half of the school that didn't have lunch during fifth period.

I slunk into the lunchroom and immediately headed towards the lunch ladies because I was curious to see what River Springs had to offer in terms of actual food. I wasn't a vegan, vegetarian or carnivore. My diet always ran to opposites until my parents figured out that I would eat whatever I liked. So, I could down edamame on one day and eat a big fat burger the next. I was never a picky girl.

There were a lot of options for me to choose, but I settled for some Lo Mein and a salad. I scored an Izze sparkling juice to drink, and I also scored a seat at an empty table. Before I sat down, though, I happened to catch the quarterback and his girlfriend looking at me. If they had been talking about me, I didn't really care because my hunger had clouded my brain and I was deaf to anything other than the food I had telling me to eat it and soon.

I sat down in my seat and ingested a forkful of the Lo Mein. To be honest, it tasted better than it probably should have. As I was eating, I noticed Savannah sitting by herself in a corner of the cafeteria. I thought about getting up and eating with her, but my stomach was still grumbling and talking to someone with a grumbling stomach had to be one of the worst impressions a person could have. Besides, I'd already gained a reputation for being a pyromaniac {yes, word got around fast}. I wasn't itching to make any more impressions on anyone else until I was ready and sure that I wouldn't get ambushed about my prior activities in London.

I was halfway finished with my salad when someone sat down in front of me. I'd been looking down at my tray, so I had to admit that I was a little astonished when I looked up and found Mr. Quarterback sitting across from me. I would've thought it was a completely different person if I didn't realize the only thing different about him was that he was wearing glasses. I turned to look at his girlfriend, and she was definitely biting her lip and glaring at me. I took it that she didn't enjoy her boyfriend coming over to the new girl's table to get himself acquainted. When I turned to look at him, he smiled and said, "You're smaller than I thought."

"What?" I asked in confusion. First of all, I didn't like people talking about my size. Obviously, I knew how small I was and I didn't need someone telling me something I already knew. Secondly, I didn't know who the hell he was, so he definitely didn't have the right to comment about my size. I could feel myself ignoring him before he could even tell me why he was at my table.

"I'm sorry. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Christopher Saltzman, junior and quarterback for the River Springs Razorbacks."

"Good for you. Why are you at my table?"

"Actually, the table belongs to the school. So, I wouldn't say that it's exactly _your_ table."

"Thank you, Mr. Obvious. Now, what do you want?"

"Seriously, that's how you treat people you've never met?"

"What makes you think that I wanted to meet _you_, Saltzman? What kind of last name is Saltzman, anyway?"

"It's Jewish, and you're extremely rude. I'm pretty sure that your etiquette teacher didn't teach you that, Aimee."

Things got very odd, and very serious, very quickly. "How did you know I took etiquette lessons? How did you know my name? Who are you?"

The smile left his face and he leaned in, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear what he was going to say. I leaned in, too. To be honest, though, I didn't want to hear it once he said it. "I know why you were the only survivor at Club Sanguine."

An unexpected chill entered the room and I shook my head. "I don't know what you're talking about. I think you need to go back to your table now, Christopher or whatever you're name is."

"I think you need to listen to me because I'm going to tell some things that you need to know, and need to take seriously. Just because your mother doesn't know about you doesn't mean that we didn't. I know everything about you, even the things you don't know about yourself. I know why you're here, and I'm here to help you. That's why I was sent here."

I was guessing that I knew who the "we" and "they" Saltzman were talking about, but I couldn't be sure. So, I continued to play stupid. "Look, I told you that you have the wrong person. I don't have a clue what you're talking about. Now, can you please leave me alone?"

"Amelia Summer Harris, age 14. Your birthday is April 7th. You were born a week early when your mother, Buffy Summers, went into labor during one of her patrols. You were also given an exam last year by some very bad people, shortly after you killed all 255 vampires at Club Sanguine. Does any of this sound familiar?"

I looked at the table where his girlfriend was, and none of his friends were paying attention to us. In fact, nobody was paying any attention to us. My eyes flickered back to him, but I kept my mouth shut. My mother taught me a lot about silence when I was growing up and she wanted to protect me from the vampires that were possibly following me because of her. Finally, I opened my mouth, which I assumed he had been waiting for me to do. "Who told you all of these lies and put my name into it? Yeah, my name is Amelia Harris and I was born April 7th. What of it? I don't know what you're talking about when you say that my mother is a Slayer and I killed vampires in a nightclub. I'm done telling people that."

"I never said anything about Slayers, Aimee," he whispered slowly. It took me a moment to realize he hadn't and I had slipped up. Damn.

I couldn't say anything to prove him wrong. Since this was my screw-up, I rolled my eyes and decided to give Saltzman the benefit of the doubt. He said he was there to help me, so he was going to spill his guts or I would spill them for him. I told him such thing and he laughed at me. "Like I said, Aimee, you're smaller than I thought. You can't take me but since you want to know everything, I'll tell you. I'm with the Watchers' Council, and they sent me here to be your Watcher."

"Wait a minute," I said, incredulous. "They sent you? Aren't Watchers supposed to be older? I knew everyone in the Watchers' Council, and let me tell you that they wouldn't have sent someone to pose as a high school student."

"Aimee, I _am_ a high school student. Besides, your first Watcher was ripped apart during one of his patrols before you got here, since you were a little tardy to the party, if you get my drift. Your mom actually has his job right now, as we speak. As for me, I'm what they call a 'special case.' I got the job early, and I blend in so well. Of course, I had to do your job before you and your mom came into town."

My throat was dry, so I tried to take a sip of my Izze, and ended up drinking the whole thing down. It was a lot of information to process in such a short time. I looked at the clock and I still had twenty minutes before my next class started. Saltzman looked over my head and must have noticed his girlfriend scowling at him because he started to get up from his seat. I grabbed his arm. "Hold on! You can't drop all of this shit on me and then leave. How do you even know I'm the right Aimee Harris, or at least the one you're looking for?"

He flicked his dolphin gray and blue eyes back to me. "9:00 tonight at Sunnydale Cemetery. Be there, and I may be able to answer that question for you."

"Wait. 9:00 tonight? I won't be able to leave the house that late. My parents will freak."

"I guess you'll have to come up with an excuse, then." With that, he left my table and headed back to his friends and girlfriend. I finished my salad and grabbed a bottled water before walking past Savannah and leaving the cafeteria altogether. That day was starting to give me a migraine, but I had a feeling that the migraines would be a whole lot worse if I did what Saltzman said and went to the cemetery that night.


	5. Chapter 4: Assembly Required

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Assembly Required**

* * *

**Buffy  
**

The rest of the day dragged on as the students coming to get suspended were few and far between. I'd called Xander on my lunch break to tell him about the exam Wolfram and Hart put Aimee under last year. It concerned him enough that he promised to stop by my office after picking Lexi up from school. When I returned from my lunch break, Claire couldn't wait to tell me that Coach Baker from the football team wanted to talk to me about his quarterback being off the roster for the next few games of the season. I decided to put that off until the pep rally, which had started two hours after my lunch break.

Everyone was rather amped for the game on Saturday, except for me and Aimee. I spotted her in the middle of everyone, and she looked just as bored as I thought she would. When she spotted me looking at her, she smiled at me and it was a welcomed change from the tense 14 year old I'd been raising for the past two years. I could only hope it would last for as long as possible, and that Lexi wouldn't catch the same brat bug her sister caught.

The coach was the first one to talk and he really did a great job getting the kids out of their seats and chanting their support for the Razorbacks. About four rows down from Aimee was the boy who'd come to my office to get his letter signed so he could skip a few games. I think his name was Christopher. Whatever his name was, he was smiling but he looked distracted. He even glanced back towards the audience a few times, as if he was looking for someone in particular. It was only when he locked eyes with Aimee that I started to wonder if she was the one he'd been looking for the entire time. She didn't look back at him, but she was tense, as if she was trying to keep her eyes fixed on me. I wondered what'd happened between them, if anything had happened between them.

When Christopher noticed me watching him and my daughter, he stopped looking in her direction and kept his focus on the coach, who was still rambling on about how the Razorbacks were going to beat the St. Howard Falcons. I found it amusing that he still had yet to announce that the quarterback wasn't going to playing for the next three games or so. I looked up at him, waiting for him to say something, and that's when he decided to stop and introduce me. "Now, I'm going to stop my ranting and introduce you to the hottest principal in River Springs, Ms. Summers. Come on up here and give the students something to cheer about."

I knew he was an asshole, but his gesture had pretty much just cemented what I thought about him. I stood up and everyone went wild, including my daughter. That made me blush a little and when I looked at the sidelines, I saw Xander also cheering me on. After all of the slayer training we've done together, he managed to be stealthy and stand in a place where Aimee couldn't see him. I didn't see Lexi with him, so I assumed that he'd come sooner because of the Wolfram & Hart situation.

When I approached the podium, the crowd fell silent and I felt like a complete fraud, but I had to remember that I wasn't and I had to say something to entertain everyone. So, I cleared my throat and said, "Thank you, Coach Baker, for the flattering compliments. My name is Ms. Buffy Summers, but you can all call me Buffy. I'm your new principal and I have to say that I'm glad that my Razorbacks are going to go all the way this year."

That was it. The crowd started cheering and going wild. I saw Aimee smile and shake her head. Even she knew I was good at saying the right things, but I had to keep going.

"I think we're going to take it all the way to the playoffs, even if our quarterback won't be with us for the next few games."

Silence. Pure, stunned silence ripped through the gymnasium and all I could hear was my own sigh of frustration. I looked at Aimee, just to see if I had royally screwed up, and the look wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. I looked at Coach Baker, and he had this smug look on his face. I had a policy against killing humans, but I was willing to make an exception if I could just punch my hand through his face. Everyone started looking back and forth at each other and some people even looked at Christopher and I could hear them ask if this was true. I was at a loss, trying to figure out something to say that wouldn't unleash a lynch mob after me. Instead, Christopher got out of his seat and headed up to the podium, leaving people talking in hushed tones. Once he was beside me, he carefully urged me aside and spoke into the microphone. "So, how are we all feeling? We're feeling good, right?"

Everyone in the audience replied with murmurs. It wasn't good enough for Christopher. "I said we're feeling good, right?"

That caused everyone to cheer and I let out a breath of relief. I could see Xander roll his eyes, but with a smile on his face. Christopher also let out a breath of relief and as silence filled the gym again, he stepped back to the microphone and took off his letter jacket. The injury looked worse than what I'd seen in the office, but he still raised his injured arm up and showed everyone that could see it up close. He must've known that it would eventually get out among the school. "This is why I can't play. I can't very well lose an arm when we all know that the Falcons love their QB sacks, right? I'll only be off the saddle for two games, maybe even three, but we'll win. You know why? We're going to kick the Falcons' asses because we're the Razorbacks and we're the best. Now, let me hear you scream!"

The crowd roared like how my Slayers let out their battle cries back when I was leading Slayer Central and I had thousands of slayers before it became just me and Faith again. Now, Faith was dead and it was just down to me and some random young girl who was supposed to be in River Springs but was now probably at the bottom of the ocean.

* * *

**Aimee**

One thing was for sure. Saltzman was extremely charismatic. I don't know how well that was going to play out for being my Watcher, if he was telling the truth, but it sure did get all of the students in school all frenzied. When everyone was in cheer mode, I saw his eyes flutter to mine and he gave me a small smile, at the same time my mother was also smiling at me. I smiled back, but I didn't know exactly who I was smiling at, so I decided that I was smiling at both of them. I felt slightly uncomfortable with my mom and Saltzman in such a close proximity, though there was no reason to be worried. He knew how important it was for her_ not_ to know that I was also a Slayer. Still, even I knew there could be a slip up in some way, shape or form. I'd slipped up with him, so I knew that anything was possible. He was just _too_ charismatic, though. I didn't know how much I liked that.

The pep rally ended a little after Saltzman declared that he was going to be sitting out of some of the games. I was glad to be leaving school for the day. The only problem was that I would have to get up, get ready and pretend that I was interested in public school life all over again tomorrow. It was as I was thinking about how unfair the conventions of school were that I realized my father was here, and he was locked in an intense conversation with Mom in one of the corners of the gym. As I headed towards my parents' direction, Saltzman approached me and whispered, "9:00, Harris. Be there or be responsible for many deaths."

I tensed up and he walked away just as quickly as he appeared. If I hadn't heard his heartbeat, I would've sworn he was a vampire. If he had been a vampire, I could've taken him out, but he wasn't. Still, I wasn't stupid and until he gave me a reason, I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him.

By the time I got to my parents, their conversation was over and my mom was unnecessarily relieved by something my father must've told her. I raised my brow in suspicion, and a nostalgic, pained look crossed her face. So, my brow lowered and I put a smile on my face to replace whatever look there was that made my mother want to cry. Dad immediately wrapped me in a bear hug and said, "How was your first day of school, cupcake."

"It was great, Dad. It'll be better tomorrow, though," I lied. I always thought it would be best to lie to my father and just keep things from my mother. It seemed to be working because they had never said anything to the contrary. When my dad let me go, he gave my mom a look and she smoothed down the top of my hair. I knew she wanted to run my fingers through it, but my hair was in pigtails, and I really hated when she did it. I never once saw her run her fingers through Lexi's hair and it made me wonder what it was about my hair that made my mom do that, unless it was a nervous habit.

The faux twins gesturing for me to come to them caught my attention. I pardoned myself away from my parents and approached them. Their eyes were wide when they looked at me and faux twin #1 said, "I'm Kaitlin, with a K. That's Caitlin, with a C. You're that new girl from London, aren't you?"

I nodded, even though that was a loaded question. I shared locker space with both of them. I was prepared to tell them that until Caitlin with a C stepped in front of me. "We heard a lot of things about you today. Apparently, you were some kind of pyro or something like that when you were in London, but we don't care about that. What we do care about is Chris Saltzman. See, we heard he went to your table at lunch today and you two had an intense convo. Then, we saw him looking back at you during the pep rally, even though Temperley, that's his girlfriend, was two feet away from him. So, rumor has it that you two know each other. We heard he'd lived in Paris before coming here to River Springs, so we're totally assuming that you two must've dated. I don't know what he'd want with a freshman, but who cares, right?"

It took me a minute to grasp everything she'd said because she was a fast talker, but I did catch Saltzman's name and the rumor that we'd known each other when I was in London. That couldn't be further from the truth, and I ended up feeling unexpectedly angry because he thought he did know me, especially in the way that he approached me in the cafeteria and just assumed that I would come to the cemetery tonight. He may have thought that he could get away with that because he was my watcher, but he was wrong.

I turned to look for my parents and found them at the entrance to the gym. Kaitlin with a K and Caitlin with a C were looking at me, expecting some kind of dirt from me about the entire situation. There was nothing to tell, so I turned my back to them and headed to my parents. "Everyone's wrong. I don't know Christopher Saltzman, and he knows nothing about me."


	6. Chapter 5: Show and Tell

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note: This chapter is strictly from Aimee's point of view. This will be a rare occurrence in this story, but it will happen again. Sorry for this taking so long. Thank you all for your patience. **

* * *

**Chapter 5: Show and Tell**

* * *

It feels like I finished my homework and dinner at record time because 9:00 pm couldn't come fast enough. My parents seem to dawdle around the house longer than they normally did. They normally peeled out of the house once Lexi was in her room, but they stayed in the kitchen for a while, talking about something chewing its way out of something. I was a little confused about why they would talk about whatever it was they were talking about, as well as a little grossed out, so I went to my bedroom and decided to take the rebellious teen route to the cemetery. I opened the window and for the first time since moving to River Springs, I was glad that we didn't have an extremely high house. The last thing I needed was to break my leg on the way to saving this city from vampires.

After launching out of my window, I landed on the lawn like a slightly drunk cat, tripping over myself and falling on my face. Lucky for me, I recovered easily and pulled a city map out of my pocket once I was far away enough from my house. I didn't bring any weapons except for my stake, which I'd put around my waist, because I didn't exactly know what was up with Saltzman and his big show about being my new Watcher. For all I knew, he could've been the head of a vamp nest that had killed my Watcher and was now trying to play me. I would stake him for that, but it didn't quite make sense how he would be able to stand in the sunlight at school if he was a vampire. After school, he'd drove out of the parking lot in a convertible with the top down and sunglasses on. None of the vampires I'd heard of or killed were able to stand the sun, so I would be pretty lucky if Saltzman was the first.

I followed the map all the way to the cemetery and found someone standing at the entrance that wasn't a gargoyle. I was tempted to pull the stake out and go for it right then and there, but it just turned out to be Saltzman in his best damsel pose, hugging himself to stay warm. I rolled my eyes and crossed the street to meet him, but I wished I didn't once I saw him. He looked so much like a nerd with his glasses and his Chucks on. His hair was flat to his head, which wasn't that much of a problem, but I was a little glad he wasn't wearing a suit. He wasn't wearing his letterman's jacket, either. In the glow of the streetlight, he looked just like a normal teenager, a teenager that would be dust in the morning if he wasn't who he said he was.

"Took you long enough," he whined. He was frowning, but I didn't really care.

"I got here as soon as I could. Deal with it," I replied with an eye roll.

I glanced at his watch and was a little surprised that it was almost 9:45 pm. I would've apologized, but he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into the cemetery with him. His hand was warm and dry, despite his odd nervousness. I think he thought we'd run into my mom, but she was going to the River Springs Cemetery.

I walked along with Saltzman and we didn't talk, but he was still holding my hand. To be honest, I was wondering if this would really count as a date because this was my first (and only) outing with a boy, and a cute one at that. Plus, we were holding hands, which would be considered intimate in some circles. When we stopped at a fresh grave, though, the date thoughts flew out of my head and I realized what Saltzman was doing. He was going to make sure that I was his Slayer. A little part of me was glad that I was a Slayer because I could take this vamp, but I did wonder if he'd done this to other girls who weren't so lucky.

The fresh dirt under my shoes was soft and I looked at my taller companion. I was not going to let him know who I was, not yet. I still didn't have much reason to trust him so when he looked at me, I took a deep breath. "We're at a grave. What is this going to prove?"

He shushed me and leaned in next to me. "His name is Ken Tucker. He was in my Geometry class. He was a _big_ douche, but he didn't deserve to be some skanky vampire's meal. Now, here he is, in this dark void under cold dirt. It should only be fair that he should, you know, rest in peace. Don't you think?"

The ground started to slowly erupt from underneath us and I backed away, taking Saltzman along with me. He was quiet, only looking at the ground as we tried to give Ken his time to get up to the surface. His face was stern, his jaw tight. It gave me a glimpse of what he would possibly look like when he was older and to be honest, it wasn't a bad view.

A hand was the first thing I saw as the dirt parted like the Red Sea. The hand became an arm, one that was covered by the sleeve of a blazer. Another hand and arm followed this sick, twisted, fascinating event and I looked straight ahead, just like Saltzman did. Ken slithered out of the ground like a monster sized mole or rabbit, dirt marring his blonde hair and coating the shoulder of his blazer like dark dandruff. I could feel the adrenaline start to build, this rush taking over me and building –_ rising_ – from the base of my spine to my head. It was my time to shine, and I was ready.

Ken stood in front of me and Saltzman, snarling and hungry. His fangs were out in full force and Saltzman said, "Hungry? You don't want to kill me. We know each other. Her, on the other hand, you can kill. She's fresh meat. Go for it."

I started backing away from both the hungry vamp and my psychotic wannabe Watcher. When Ken the vampire grabbed me, we both tumbled over a medium sized gravestone and broke it in half. I took the brunt of the hit, and I could feel the entire left side of my body begin to bruise. I scrambled away from Ken, but he grabbed my leg and pulled me right to him. Then, he climbed on me and started to go for my throat. I tried to locate the stake I had kept on my side, but it was gone. As I wrestled with the douche in Saltzman's geometry class, I looked up and there Saltzman was, dangling the stake back and forth at me. "Does this belong to you, perchance?"

I fought with all my might to keep Ken from biting the hell out of me, and used my free hand to reach out for the stake. "Give it to me."

Saltzman held the stake out enough to touch my palm, but he pulled it away before I could have a good grip on it. "I thought you were the wrong person."

Ken kept advancing closer to my neck and finally managed to push him away enough to try to grab the stake from Saltzman, but Ken grabbed my foot and pulled me back to him again. I let out a little yelp and I could see that Saltzman wanted me to win this fight. He wanted to prove me wrong and as much as I wanted to be wrong, he still had my stake. "Give me the stake, Salt-"

The rest of my words were cut off by the vampire, whose hands were clamped around my windpipe. I reached one of my hands out to get the stake while I was being strangled to death, but I started to lose consciousness quickly. If a vampire starts to put a person in a choke-hold, it's meant to subdue the victim just long enough to get blood. Ken was still a fledgling. The proof was in how much air I was losing and how fast I was dying.

Ken was thrown off of me and air burned my chest as it filled my lungs. I turned to find Saltzman fighting the vampire as best as he could with one arm. Still, it wasn't enough. Ken kicked Saltzman in his bad arm, which was in a sling, and it took him down. The stake fell to the cold ground that covered another grave and it was only a matter of time before Saltzman was going to be dead. His eyes flickered over to me, and I was surprised that I could still see them in the dark. I crawled over to the stake, trying to allow the oxygen to flow to my brain a little quicker, and grabbed it. The vampire formerly known as Ken had already pricked the skin of Saltzman's neck with his teeth. I could smell the salt of his blood and though it revolted me, I could feel an underlying hunger for it.

Saltzman's eyes watched me with urgency as I stood up and pointed the stake in the direction of Ken's chest. He reared his head back and Saltzman closed his eyes, ready to die. I plunged the wooden stake deep into Ken's chest and for a moment, I thought that I had stabbed Saltzman because Ken had yet to turn into dust. Once he did, I lurched forward and fell into my Watcher's arms. He grabbed me with his good arm and stood me up as he stood straighter. He looked a bit worse for wear. His lip was bleeding and his glasses were broken, but he would be alright. Ken got nowhere near drinking him dry, which was good for me because I was going to break Saltzman's neck.

After he looked at his arm and determined that he'd live, he put it back in the sling and took his glasses off. My ankle was sore, probably twisted by Ken's tight grip. I dusted myself off and whispered, "Are you alright?"

He nodded and replied, "Short of needing stitches again, I'll live. You did pretty well, Aimee. You're a little rough around the edges, but I think we can-"

He never finished the sentence because I punched him as hard as I could without actually snapping his neck. I thought I had punched him in the nose and maybe even broke it, but I'd just socked him in the mouth, which just made his lip bleed even more. He looked at me and I cowered, just for a moment. However, there was ferocity in my eyes that matched his. Wherever he was raised, he must've been cut from a cloth not too different than mine.

I was surprised when he started heading back to the entrance of the cemetery. I quickly trailed behind him and he turned his head to glance at me. "You're going to need more training. You're good, but you could be better."

"Okay, that makes sense. But where are you going? You couldn't have just brought me here to kill one vampire."

He stopped. "I'm going home. You just proved to me that you lied and that's all I needed. There's not much I can do with you tonight. I'll see you in the morning."

He left me alone in the cemetery and even though I thought I would be afraid, I wasn't. To be honest, I was feeling a little empowered, especially since I'd made my mark. Saltzman didn't say I was terrible, so that was a start. He was a complete asshole, but maybe he needed some work just like I did. As I walked home and thought about how I was going to sneak back in, I had a smile on my face. I was proud of myself, even if nobody knew about it.


	7. Chapter 6: Secrets and Lies

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur  
**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Secrets and Lies**

* * *

**Fourteen Years Earlier...**

_I was sitting along with Xander on the patio at a café near the Eiffel Tower when I caught a glimpse of a young girl frolicking around a fountain. The little girl had to have been at least five years old, but she had this huge smile plastered on her face and she was giggling with so much joy. I looked down at my stomach and wondered if the life inside of me would ever get the chance to run and frolic around the Eiffel Tower. _

_ Xander pushed my cup of tea further in front of me and I took it from him with a tired smile on my face. After I sipped from the cup and allowed the warm tea to slide down my throat, I began to feel warmer and more at ease. "Thank you, Xand. I really needed this."_

_ "What happened to you, Buff? It's been a while since you fell off the grid and went all Lizbeth Salander on us._ _How have hell have you been?"_

_ I frowned at Xander's Salander reference, but I did find it rather funny. When I could find the courage to speak, I looked up at him and explained. "Well, I've been here in Paris, mostly. I've been here so long that I think I know my way around this entire city."_

_ Xander frowned back at me with confusion and wiped his glasses as I whispered, "The baby would probably like it here."_

_ He choked on the mouthful of coffee he had in his mouth and had to swallow it down harder than it should've been. "You're having a baby? Who? When? What? Why? How?"_

_ It was a rather long story, but I explained the entire circumstances as to how I ended up pregnant and my concerns about the baby I was carrying while Xander cleaned his glasses more than Giles used to. Once I was stopped talking, Xander took another sip of his coffee and put his hand on mine. All of the sadness I'd felt for the past five months had finally begun to sink in and I cried, "What am I going to do, Xand?"_

* * *

**Buffy**

Aimee found a way to sneak out of the house. She hadn't even come up with some kind of cover or ploy for me and Xander to figure out. She just left. We didn't realize this, though, until we went up to kiss her and Lexi good night before Xander and I left for our patrol. If Xander and I hadn't decided to go on patrol at the River Springs Cemetery, I probably would've wigged out a lot more than I did if it wasn't my duty to kill some vampires

During my patrol, three vampires almost took me down. I was just too distracted with the day's events and my missing rebellious daughter. If Xander hadn't been fighting alongside me, he probably would have been shopping for my casket in the morning. At the end of the patrol, my muscles hurt like nobody's business. I may have been preternaturally strong and chosen and all, but I was also a 40 year old mother of two now. My body didn't bounce back as fast as it used to. It was almost as if my Slayer powers had been somewhat sapped from me. It had been that way for the past two years.

Xander drove home from the cemetery while I just stared into dead space, wondering exactly how my life had gotten to the point where I was a mother of two girls, one of them horribly rebellious, and a wife to someone who'd been my best friend and nothing more until I was pregnant with said horribly rebellious daughter. I had led a worldwide organization of Slayers. I'd helped to create a new kind of world. I was reunited with both men I'd actually loved and I got to see Europe only to destroy everything and start a new life that I left to return to be the only Slayer. If anyone had told me when I was 15 that I would become a still married, principal of a high school version of my mother; I would've laughed in his or her face.

When Xander asked me if I was alright, I mumbled something that sounded intelligible and kept staring ahead. I was still trying to figure out if I was happy in this life I had. I wondered if Xander was happy being my husband. I wondered if Aimee was happy being my daughter. Lexi was still very happily oblivious as to my slaying duties, and she was a generally happy child. I didn't worry about her as much as I worried about Aimee, but I also didn't spend as much time with Aimee as a baby as I'd spent with Lexi. Lexi had been an accident, one that turned out to be a happy accident. But, she was still an accident and I spent a lot of time with her so she would know that I did want her. That hadn't the case with Aimee.

Xander drove like an old woman, but it gave me enough time to think about the depression I was in while I was pregnant with Aimee. I remember the weeks she spent with a midwife, a wet nurse and a nanny, all provided for me by Faith, as I remained bedridden after she was born. I didn't want Aimee, even after I was told that she was going to be alright. I was more concerned about going back to slaying than my own child. All the hope for her when I carried her seemed to dissipate. Xander, however, had fallen in love with her at first sight and it was him that really helped me integrate her into my new life. In all honesty, though, it felt like Amelia was more Xander's child than mine. The only time I felt like I'd bonded with her was when I'd take her out with me on my patrols. That was something I'd never done with Lexi.

I looked at Xander in the moonlight. He'd definitely grown out of that awkward stage. It took me years to get him out of the eye patch and into some glasses after his eye was healed. Still, he had become a very good looking man and I felt like I should've been honored to be able to watch him grow stronger and more confident of himself as the years passed. Things between us were so different now; I wondered why I was never in love with him before, but I guess it was because I couldn't see him as the strong, confident father and husband who still cracked awful jokes then. I could only see him as geeky, awkward Xander.

Once we finally arrived home, I practically rushed out of the car and ran into the house, wanting to call out for Aimee but not wanting to wake up Lexi. Xander instead grabbed my hand and we both walked up to Aimee's room. When Xander opened the door, I breathed a sigh of relief and a smile rose upon my face after we both found her sound asleep, as if she had been there the entire time. Our daughter was safe and even if I didn't care for her as much as I should have, I was so happy that I could see with my own eyes that she was safe and alive and in a place where I could see her.

"See, Buff?" Xander whispered as he stood in the frame of Aimee's door, "She's safe, sound and fast asleep. Now let's go to bed."

I walked over to Aimee and kissed her on the cheek. She stirred in her sleep and moaned like she was in pain, and I could've sworn she had a bruise on her face, but I wrote it off as a trick of the eye. Xander eventually came to me, took my hand and led me to the bedroom, where we undressed in silence so we wouldn't wake the girls up. Once we were naked, he grabbed the massage oil from the dresser and treated me to a full body massage. Still, I was full of adrenaline and feeling frenetic. I sat up and kissed Xander softly, giving him my "look." It didn't take him long to figure out what I wanted and we ended up making love for the majority of the night. Spike may have bragged about killing two Slayers and then sleeping with me, but Xander managed to get two Slayers into bed and that, in my opinion, was so much better.

* * *

**Aimee**

I woke up the next morning feeling bruised and broken. After the adrenaline crash I had the night before, I had no idea how I was going to survive school. I wish I could heal as easily as my mom did, but I knew that I had a way to go before I got there. Besides, she had twenty six years on me, eleven of those as a Slayer. I was nowhere near close to her caliber.

After a quick soak in some hot water and Epsom salt, I got dressed in a button down, one of my dad's pinstripe vests and some cargo pants before heading down to the dining room for breakfast. Lexi had a smile on her face, as did my parents; who were helping each other make pancakes. I would've wondered if they'd been abducted by aliens, if I hadn't vaguely remembered waking up early in the morning. Unfortunately, it was long enough to hear my mom say with a shudder, "Oh, fuck, Xander! Don't fucking stop!"

Needless to say, I knew why my parents were happy. However, I didn't have a clue as to why Lexi was even perkier than she normally was

I sat down and Dad handed me a plate of strawberry pancakes with whipped cream piled high on it. I smiled at him and Lexi leaned forward to whisper, "Mom and Dad may take us to Los Angeles this weekend."

I looked at them and replied, "The City of Angels? Wow! Does someone have a shopping emergency or something?"

I noticed how my mother froze for a moment and my father looked away from me. I wondered what was wrong, but my mom put on the fakest smile I've ever seen and approached me. "There is nothing wrong with shopping. You know, I may even perform a miracle and get you clothes that you don't even have to steal from your father."

I looked down at the vest I was wearing and then smiled at my mother's need to shop, but I then remembered Saltzman and our little field trip last night. Now that he knew I was a Slayer and I knew he was my Watcher, did that mean that I would have to spend insane amounts of time with him? I wanted to ask my mom and dad about it, but couldn't since they had no idea that I was dusting vampires and decreasing their numbers. For the first time, I actually did want to go on one of my mom's little shopping excursions, just so I wouldn't have to think about my slaying duties. I wondered if that made me a bad person, or a bad Slayer, or a bad Slayer person. Wonders never cease, do they?

"That _is _one of my vests, isn't it?" My father said, breaking out of my conundrum filled trance. I looked down at my outfit again and nodded. I was grateful that he was my father when he didn't make me take the vest off and instead shrugged. I smiled and ate my pancakes, blissfully aware for all of a second that I didn't have to be a Slayer right then and there. Not only would that have been frustrating, that also would've been really awful because my parents would've found out about me right then and there.

The ride to school ended up being surprisingly nice. I think it had something to do with my dad driving us and telling me and Lexi stories about how he used to work in construction. That didn't surprise me. He was really in shape for a man his age. My mom sat in the passenger seat and smiled, not really chiming in but instead letting everything sink in. There were times I could tell she was nostalgic for the good ol' days when she was the greatest woman in the world and not a mom and a wife. Personally, I thought my mother was self-centered at times. She probably thought the same of me. I wished that I had a better relationship with my mother, but we both knew that we loved each other as much as we had to.

I could immediately feel my day shift downward as soon as my dad pulled into the parking lot and I saw Saltzman standing against his car, waiting for me. He was wearing a new pair of glasses and reading a book, so it was easy for everyone to believe that he probably wanted to finish the book before school started, but he and I both knew better. Lucky for him, it was coy enough to fool my mom, who kissed all of us on the cheek and jumped out of the car so she could get some work done before school. I got out of the car soon after and gave my dad a kiss on the cheek before rustling Lexi's hair and grabbing my backpack. When I saw my dad pull out of the parking lot, I pushed aside all of my dread and headed towards my new Watcher.

"How're you feeling?" Saltzman asked as I approached him. I really liked his car, though I wasn't necessarily an antique car kind of girl. Then, I realized how I was avoiding the question. When the bell rang to rustle all of us students into the building, I started to walk ahead of him and not so surprisingly, he followed.

"So, I'm noticing that you're ignoring me. Is that because I was a little careless with your life last night? I'm really sorry about that, by the way," he said as if almost getting me killed was the most natural think in the world.

I turned to face him. "I feel like I was hit by a semi. My entire body is bruised up, and I heard my mom in the throes of passion with my dad last night. So, I'm not feeling all that great. How about you? Are you _really _feeling guilty about what you did?"

He frowned in confusion. "I was trying to show you that while you're good, you're not invincible. You're not your mom. You still don't think that I really didn't know who you were, right? I saw the video of you in Club Sanguine."

My jaw dropped and I found myself speechless for one of the first times in my life. I was on tape? The Watchers' Council had the tape? That had to have meant that my mom had seen it. I suddenly fell sick and I became pale. I watched as Saltzman frowned at me and then looked at me with concern. Before I could tell him what was wrong, I gripped my stomach and ran to a nearby garbage can to vomit up every single bite of the pancakes I'd eaten this morning. When I was finished, I slumped against the garbage can and Saltzman helped me up with his masculine, football player strength. We walked into the school and I was puzzled as to where he was leading me until I saw the school nurse sign. I didn't protest. I really wasn't feeling up to doing anything other than crumpling in a heap.

The nurse deduced that I had a concussion and made me lay down in her office for at least two classes. I kept waiting for my mom to find out where I was and wig out, but news didn't get to her as soon as I thought it would. I closed my eyes for a little while and rested but for the most part, I stared at the Clorox white ceilings while Saltzman sat next to me. We didn't talk much. He just sat and I just stared at the tiles. Then, I noticed him writing in a notebook. Surely, they had to have been his Watcher notes. When he was finished with that, he looked up at me and said, "You know, you should join the cheerleading squad."

I chuckled, "Cheerleading squad? Are you serious or are you trying to make me throw up again? I'm not joining the cheerleading squad."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I said you should. I really should've just told you that you really don't have a choice in the matter."

I turned over, my back to him. He was not my parents nor was he any other part of my family, so he really didn't have any right to tell me that I had no choice in anything I did here in River Springs. He continued to convince me otherwise. "It's the best way for me to keep an eye on you without tipping your mother off. Cheerleaders get the extra practice time that the football players have, which means we can spend time practicing your skills. It's the most convenient way to have a Slayer-Watcher relationship without anyone becoming suspicious. You know that I'm right, Aimee. Your mom can't continue to do all of this alone."

Damn. He was right. I turned back around to face him, despite the flip flop my stomach made, and he handed me a permission slip. I noticed that tryouts were at the end of the day and rolled my eyes. Thankfully, he'd forged my mom's signature, so all I had to do was say yes to audition for the cheerleading team. Begrudgingly, I handed it back to him and replied, "Fine, I'll try out for the stupid squad, but you better vouch for me and your girlfriend better keep her claws in check or I'm done. Got it, Saltzman?"

He shrugged. "Got it, but my name is Christopher."

"Saltzman just sounds better to me."

My Watcher smiled and it made me break into a smile, but my mom walked into the room with worry on her face and looked at Saltzman suspiciously. Apparently, the nurse must've gone to my mom. Saltzman excused himself and headed to his class, looking at me expectantly.

* * *

**Buffy**

When Christopher left the room and left me alone with my daughter, I ran my fingers through her hair and said, "How did you end up with a concussion?"

She shrugged and I braced myself for the lie I was getting ready to hear. "I was practicing for the upcoming cheerleading tryouts last night and I hit the wall pretty hard after a back tuck."

I thought about fighting her on the lie and questioning her about sneaking out the night before. I thought about making her tell me what made her change in the past two years because I knew it was more than just puberty. I thought about just having it out with my child right then and there in the nurse's office, but I could tell that she was dreading everything I could've said. It was only as disentangled my hand from her hair and sat down in the chair that Christopher had been sitting in that I noticed her relax.

I continued to keep the lie going. "I had no idea you were interested in cheerleading."

Aimee shrugged as much as she could while she was lying down. "Well, we didn't have it in Europe, so I jumped at the chance. Besides, Christopher thought it would be good for me."

I almost blanched when I heard his name. Even though she was right and he was a very good looking boy, even cuter than RJ Brooks, I had this strong feeling that he was hiding something and it involved my child. _That_ is what I didn't like.

I sat with Aimee for about an hour when she'd started to doze off. I wondered why she lied to me about having a concussion and what she was hiding from me. Her shirt rode up on the side and I could see the edge of what looked like a nasty bruise on her back. My thoughts initially led me to believe that Christopher had something to do with it, but I knew that she hadn't known him long enough to start a relationship and she _definitely_ hadn't known him long enough for him to start abusing her. I also knew what I would do to him if he had hit her. I remembered what Spike had done to me so many years ago and how much I didn't want anything like that to happen to Aimee.

I realized that even though Aimee knew I was a Slayer, she still had so much to learn about me, and I didn't want her to hate me for what could eventually come out.


	8. Chapter 7: Choices and Changes

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur  
**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for the late, _late_, update. Life really kinda got in the way. Here is the latest chapter, with a gift to all of you people. The final section is in French for you all to figure out. I will not say whose point of view that section is in, but it does add a bit of extra mystery to the story. Also, I began writing this chapter back in January, around the time Buffy's 30th birthday rolled around. So, be sure to wish Buffy a happy belated birthday.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Choices and Changes**

* * *

**_Buffy, age 30: San Francisco, California…_**

_ "Xander, she's not latching on!"_

_ While I fussed with a three month old Lexi, Aimee was playing Slayer. Xander, who had finished remodeling our basement, walked over to me and kissed me on the forehead. "Buff, it's because you're not putting your whole nipple in her mouth. Remember what the lactation specialist told you, whole nipple. Don't kill her with your super strength." _

_ I kicked him in the leg and though it wasn't the hardest I could kick him, I knew it would leave a bruise. He hobbled on his good leg for a moment and laughed. When he sat down, Aimee ran to him and said, "Daddy, daddy! I kill-ed you, I kill-ed you! Why are you not dust yet?"_

_ Xander looked at me and I shrugged. I knew it was wrong to bring her to my patrols but I wanted her to be aware of what I did at an early age. I think I had done it to start training her on the off chance that she possibly had the Slayer gene, but Willow hadn't detected anything when she checked Aimee out. Still, it made me feel like I could become close to my daughter if I brought her along, even though I was risking her life._

_ Aimee eventually ran off to play with the horses, but Xander kept looking at me. I knew what the look meant, so I did my best to divert my eyes away from him and concentrate on feeding Lexi, who had finally latched on. _

_ "Buffy, what did I say about bringing Amelia with you on your patrols?"_

_ "Xander, I know. You don't have to scold me. You're not Giles."_

_ He slapped the book he had in his hand down on the coffee table and I flinched. Still, he hissed, "No, I'm not Giles. I'm not Spike or Angel, either. I'm your _husband_ now, the man you chose to marry. I'm the father of your children and whether you like it or not, I've been in this since the beginning. If I say that Aimee stays home while you patrol, that means that I get to have a say in her life. She's only four, Buffy. She barely acknowledges that she has a sister yet. If you didn't hate her so much -"_

_I could've told him that I didn't hate Amelia. I could've screamed right back at him but in that moment, with my new baby in my arms, I realized that I did love Lexi more than I loved Aimee. Still, I wouldn't allow myself to admit it, especially to Xander. Instead, I turned away from Xander until Lexi was done eating and then, I got up to burp her and put her to bed._

* * *

**Buffy, Present Day**_...  
_

By lunchtime, Aimee was feeling better and able to return to her classes. I took my phone out of my pocket and thought about calling Willow to see how she was doing, but I then remembered that she was on some kind of retreat or something. Willow and I had our periods in which we didn't speak for months and then we could have a conversation and it felt like we had only seen each other the day before. I wish I could say the same about Dawn, but things had become extremely complicated after she and Xander broke up. Then, it got even more complicated when I announced my pregnancy and sudden marriage to Xander. By the time Lexi was born, Dawn and I had long stopped talking. I remember her vaguely being there when Aimee was born, and her talking about taking Aimee with her if I couldn't take care of her. After Xander shut that idea down, I never saw her again. Willow told me that Dawn eventually got married but never had children, and I pretty much figured that she probably never wanted children that weren't Xander's. Still, I never got to tell her the truth about Aimee.

Boredom began to set in and I went back to looking at Aimee's school file. The Wolfram and Hart medical exam that Aimee had taken the year before continued to bug at me, though Xander told me that I shouldn't have been worrying about it. Still, there wasn't much to do when kids were behaving enough not to get sent to my office. I got up from my desk and decided to walk around to stretch my legs when I opened the door and Christopher was standing there. I frowned at him and he smiled as he said, "Sorry to startle you, Ms. Summers. I just thought it would be alright if I could sit in your office for lunch."

"Why would you want to sit in my office, Christopher? What's wrong with the cafeteria?"

"Well, I don't mind eating in the cafeteria but when people start questioning me about when I'm coming back to the team, something's got to give, you know?"

There went the stretching of my legs. I moved aside and walked to my desk as he followed close behind and sat down across from me. I sat awkwardly and put Aimee's file away before it caught his attention. As the clock ticked nervously, I sat with him in silence and he smiled at me. I smiled back and remembered that Aimee had a cheerleading tryout today. Even though I didn't necessarily doing any flips or straining herself after getting sick, she had basically tuned me out and decided to go through with it. I opened my mouth to speak and found Christopher staring intently, as if he had been waiting for me to speak. He was turning out to be rather peculiar but I still managed to say, "Aimee's doing some kind of cheerleading tryout today. I was wondering where she got the idea from."

He sat back against his chair and replied, "Well, I thought it would be a good idea. She's small so she could be a flyer. Our cheer team is one of the only competitive high school cheerleading teams in the U.S, and I just think that Aimee would be a great part of the team. The choice, of course, is up to her. To be honest, I had no idea she was trying out today. I'm surprised, but I'm really glad."

When he smiled again, he seemed so sweet and innocent. I could see why Aimee was interested in him, if she actually was. His eyes lit up and his smile was so charismatic. He was totally R.J Brooks all over again, without the magic letter jacket. If Dawn was here to see him, it would've probably turned into how she was in high school all over again. I shook my head and sighed. "Look, Christopher, I understand that you've grown an attachment for my daughter, but you really shouldn't be in my office. I'm pretty sure that there are other places in this school for you to eat your lunch instead of in here."

"You mean that I should eat in the library?"

"There's a library?"

Christopher frowned and I remembered that I wasn't supposed to be an airhead and be a principal at the same time. I smiled at him and tried to make him forget that I actually asked him if there was a library. Then, I scoffed. "I'm sorry. I really have to check out the premises."

He reached over to me and alarm filled me as he lifted up Aimee's file and went through my wire basket until he found what he was looking for. When he pulled it out, I almost pulled out my trusty knife – which used to be Faith's – and threw it at his head. I knew that I had breathed a sigh of relief when he sat a pamphlet in front of me and it read "How to Navigate River Springs High." I looked up at him and he gave me a half smile that made me smile as well. Finally, the lunch bell rang and it was time for the second half of the students to go back to their classes, including Aimee and Christopher. He didn't need me to tell him that, though. He instead stood up and put his apple on my desk, which was so old fashioned and yet one of the sweetest gestures anyone has ever done for me. I looked down at the map in front of me and thanked him. He replied with a shrug. "I really do want to help, Ms. Summers, even if I am just a kid. I know a _lot_ about this place and I would like to help you, and Aimee for that matter, if you'd let me."

He walked away before I could answer him. I wasn't too surprised, though. He had a class to go to and probably didn't want detention. I looked down at the pamphlet again and then, I looked at Aimee's file. As I read it, I noticed that she was doing well in her studies and there was nothing out of the ordinary until the Wolfram & Hart exam, which still came back normal. Still, it bothered me that Wolfram & Hart had examined my child. I was glad that both Aimee and Lexi thought that we were going to LA for shopping because if they knew that I was going to Wolfram & Hart…I was considering leaving them with Xander, but he needed a break. I didn't know how much of a break he was going to get when he was going to be going into the law office with me. I just really hoped that Aimee didn't remember that this damn law office examined her last year.

* * *

**Aimee**

"I think your mom is in some serious denial," Saltzman said as he sat down with his lunch and started eating.

After the barf incident this morning, my stomach was rumbling for something to be put in it, so I had doubled up on the tacos. Of course, that was after I rinsed my mouth with so much Listerine, my taste buds were possibly dead. But as I looked up at the quarterback sitting across from me, I didn't feel like eating so much. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I think your mom may know that you're a Slayer, but she may be in denial."

"She doesn't know. If she knew, she would've totally kicked your ass for almost getting me killed last night. I would've known. But, she didn't say anything. She wasn't even concentrating on me last night. She was too busy doing and saying stuff that she really shouldn't have been doing and saying at her age." A shudder ran down my spine, and my appetite totally flew out the window at the visual I got of my parents, and the audio I had to accompany it.

"I don't know," Saltzman replied as he took a bit out of his toaster pastry. "She just seems like she's in denial about _something_. It may not be the Slayer thing, but it's something. Good thing I skipped my Human Sexuality class to figure that out for you. Today, my teacher was going to show us the childbirth video again. Yeesh." He scooped up a finger full of icing and put it in his mouth.

"Get to the point, Saltzman. Why are you over here?"

He sat the toaster pastry down and looked at me with a wide smile on his face. "Amelia, I'm your Watcher. I was dead serious about you joining the cheerleading squad and I'm dead serious about your mother being in denial about something. Now, stay cordial. My girlfriend, Temperley, is coming over."

I rolled my eyes and turned to watch as Temperley, the head cheerleader, sauntered over to us in her uniform and super high, bouncy ponytail. Thank goodness she was a brunette, or she was definitely going to fit the typical cheerleader stereotype. When she approached my table, she sat down next to Saltzman and ran her fingers into his hair as she cooed, "You must be _Ay-meee_, the new girl. I'm Temperley Cross. Chris has told me a lot about you. He even said that you would be a great asset to the squad."

I shrugged with a polite smile on my face and replied, "Well, I'm pretty good with gymnastics. I don't know much about cheering, though."

"I'll be sure to teach you. That is, if you get in," she said as her hand tightened in Saltzman's head and her other hand inched towards his crotch. There was a part of me that was wishing she was a vampire so I could stake her with my fork, but I was trying not to cause trouble here in River Springs. I looked at my Watcher, with his sexy cheerleading girlfriend all but draped on him, and he looked slightly amused but mostly embarrassed. Temperley had no reason to be threatened by a freshman girl, especially since her jawbone was sharp enough to slice something and I looked like a cherub compared to her, but I did threaten her. It made me wonder why.

"Well, I'm sure that I would be a good protégé," I said politely. Though my hope for her to vamp on me wasn't going to happen, I decided to flatter her instead. I seemed to have worked, because she smiled at me, but she still had suspicion in her eyes.

"I'm sure you will, Aimee. I have to go and prepare for tryouts. I'll see you later, baby?" She stood so her breasts, which were clearly fake, were level with his forehead and he nodded as he looked up at her.

When she walked away, Christopher smiled at me and I said, "What do you see in her?"

Well, she's tall, dark, and beautiful, and I get laid four out of five nights of the week. What wouldn't I see in someone like that? Now, come on and let's talk about your mom."

I stood up with my tacos and let out a huff. "Saltzman, please stop talking about my mom. I have to deal with her for most of the day and then see her at home. If she knew I was a Slayer, she would've told me. You, for example, would be dead. So, drop it."

I walked away from my normal table and looked around the cafeteria to find somewhere else to sit. I turned in the direction of the cheerleaders, and Temperley gave me a look that felt like she had slashed me with a knife. I stopped looking in the direction of the cheerleaders and found Savannah sitting at a table by herself. I hadn't talked to her since the day before, but I wanted to change that. So, I walked over to her table and sat down across from her. She was eating pasta salad with bacon in it that smelled wonderful. She seemed pretty interested in her book, so I cleared my throat and said, "Hi. I'm Aimee Harris. You're Savannah, right? I met you in class yesterday."

Savannah looked up at me and said, "Oh. It's nice to meet you. You're the new girl, from London, right?"

I nodded. Though it had been only two days since I'd been a student there, I was hoping to shed the "new girl, from London" identity. I was sadly mistaken, so I didn't create a fuss about it. Instead, I spent my concentration on my potential new best friend. "So, what book are you reading?"

"Atlas Shrugged. Ayn Rand is my favorite author."

Amusement washed over me and I could feel a genuine smile crossing my face. "I love that book, too. I mean, the mystery of John Galt is absolutely brilliant."

"Exactly! Do you want to sit down, Aimee?"

I nodded again and this time, I was flattered that this was the first person to ask me to sit with him or her, instead of me having my own table and people with the initials Christopher Saltzman plopping down across from me. When I sat down, the two of us engaged in a very interesting conversation about what we liked and didn't like about Atlas Shrugged. It was, as most people say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

* * *

**_New York City…_**

_ Elle a marché en bas les rues bondées avec son parapluie, la pluie qui précipiter au sol en dessous d'elle. Le parapluie était la seule couleur dans une ville pleine d'un mondain gris. Son mascara a couvert des mèches ont posé contre sa joue comme elle a clignoté mais quand elle a ouvert ses yeux, le monde autour d'elle semblé plus gris, plus déprimant, plus mondain. _

_Comme elle a marché plus ample, elle pourrait se sentir que quelqu'un la regardant. Elle se tenait dans le projecteur de leur éclat. Elle s'est tourné et a trouvé un visage familier qui elle regarde, attendant et regarder. Elle a eu un choix de faire, ou aller à la personne ou à la promenade loin. Aller à son passé ou continuer à diriger vers l'inconnu. La sécurité ou le danger imminent partout elle a tourné. _

_Elle a pris une étape vers la personne, certaine que les choses seraient différentes doit cette fois elle fait le choix de retourner._ _La personne a souri et elle a senti le confort dans ce sourire. Toujours, le sourire n'a pas atteint les yeux de la personne, qui avaient été le cas pour beaucoup d'ans maintenant. Il ne pourrait pas cacher qu'il avait essayé de cacher, et elle a senti la gifle de vérité dure froide elle dans le visage comme si elle avait été frappée avec une extrêmement grande goutte de pluie extrêmement froide. _

_Elle tout avait fait elle a été supposée pour faire pour pourvu qu'elle pourrait se souvenir de. Elle a joué sa partie bien, presque aussi bien. Elle a eu un travail réussi, une vie merveilleuse, un homme qui elle a aimé. Elle a eu un avenir. Toujours, elle toujours s'est sentie que manquant la partie, l'un morceau manquant. Il y avait des temps quand elle a langui pour lui. Il y avait aussi des temps quand elle était contente pour ne pas être une partie de lui tous, et elle n'a pas manqué un moment de son passé. _

_Les voix ont rempli sa tête, les voix de ses amis et sa famille. Ils ont embrouillé ensemble jusqu'à ce qu'elle a entendu seulement une voix, seulement l'un qui elle a donné une réponse. "Course." _

_Elle a pris une étape en arrière et elle pourrait dire qu'il était prêt à la suivre. Elle pas a soigné plus s'il a fait. Il ne pourrait jamais la prendre de toute façon. Elle a tourné son dos à lui et a commencé la promenade vers un nouveau chemin dans le gris, atténuer la ville; un chemin où elle a eu pourtant à paver sa façon._


	9. Interlude

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur  
**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note: This is not the new chapter of Chosen. This is the English translation of the final section in Chapter 7, which was intentionally written in French. That section was a gift to my readers, something that they would have to figure out. Is it a part of a new story? I don't know. Right now, the scenes just pop up in my head and I try to translate them in black and white. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this and I hope it helps everyone who was confused about the French.  
**

* * *

**New York City...**

_She walked down the crowded streets with her umbrella, the rain dashing to the ground beneath her. The umbrella was the only color in a city full of a mundane gray. Her mascara covered lashes laid against her cheek as she blinked but when she opened her eyes, the world around her seemed more gray, more depressing, more mundane._

_As she walked further, she could feel someone watching her. She was standing in the spotlight of their glare. She turned around and found a familiar face looking at her, waiting and watching. She had a choice to make, either go to the person or walk away. Go to her past or continue to head towards the unknown. Safety or imminent danger everywhere she turned._

_She took one step towards the person, certain that things would be different this time should she make the choice to go back. The person smiled and she felt the comfort in that smile. Still, the smile didn't reach the person's eyes, which had been the case for many years now. He couldn't hide what he had been trying to hide, and she felt the cold harsh truth slap her in the face as if she'd been hit with an extremely cold, extremely large raindrop._

_She'd done everything she was supposed to do for as long as she could remember. She played her part well, almost too well. She had a successful job, a wonderful life, a man who loved her. She had a future. Still, she always felt that missing part, the one missing piece. There were times when she yearned for it. There were also times when she was glad to not be a part of it all, and she did not miss a moment of her past._

_Voices filled her head, the voices of her friends and her family. They all muddled together until she heard only one voice, only one that gave her an answer. "Run."_

_She took a step backward and she could tell he was poised to follow her. She didn't care anymore if he did. He could never catch her anyway. She turned her back to him and began walking towards a new path in the gray, dull city; a path where she had yet to pave her way._


	10. Chapter 8: Something to Cheer About

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur  
**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note:** **This is probably going to be one of the few chapters where it's narrated from one point of view but just like when she slayed her first vampire with Saltzman there, I needed to tell Aimee's story from her POV solely when it came to joining the cheerleading squad. I don't know when I'll have a chapter of Buffy's POV alone, but I will have one. Also keep in mind that the person in the italicized section, the girl in NYC, has a story as well. Her story may be Aimee's. Her story may be Buffy's. Her story may be someone I haven't talked about yet, but it's an important story and even more so, it's not in French. Also, this is the same person I wrote about in Chapter 7. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 8: Something to Cheer About**

* * *

**New York City…**

_She remembered a struggle when she awakened. The struggle had happened earlier in the day, but it was now night and she was wide awake. The room was silent and dim, but it wasn't her home. Her head was pounding, her mouth was dry and she was dizzy; all the classic symptoms of a hangover. However, she hadn't been drinking. She wished she knew where she was, but she was all alone and there was nobody to tell her anything._

_ The IV in her vein was a giveaway of nothing. It couldn't determine where she was. It couldn't determine how she got there. She had to get free, but she couldn't do it with the IV in her arm. She tried to pull it out, but she was too weak to do so. She was exhausted by the sheer thought of trying to get out. Something wasn't right. She hadn't been this weak in years._

_ The door knob turned and he walked into the room, wearing a designer suit. It had been at least three years since she'd seen him, but she immediately knew the rumors she'd heard about him weren't just rumors. He'd definitely changed. He'd become just like the others._

_ "I was wondering when you'd wake up. Welcome back," he said in the same manner she'd remembered him speaking in. He had his hands around his back and she remembered that he used to stand like that. However, his eyes were different. They were blank. "We were worried about you. You really shouldn't scare us like that again."_

_ We. Us. She noticed that he spoke like he had a hive mentality. When he approached her, he took one hand from behind his back and in his hand was a paper cup. She turned her head to keep him from giving her what was in the cup, but he grabbed her face and forced her mouth open with one hand. With his other hand, he poured the medicine down her throat and she had to force herself to swallow it down before she choked._

_ She fell back against the bed when he released her and let out a whimper while he straightened his blazer out. "There, that's better. You know, you should be more cooperative next time and I'll be nicer."_

_ "I want to go home," she whispered in defeat. _

_ "You _are_ home," he replied as he looked at her paper menu. "It won't be long before we get you fixed up as good as new again. Apparently, you've been broken for some time now. You really shouldn't have thought that you could run from us, you know. It made everyone else's punishment that much more severe."_

_ She continued to look at her blue polyester blanket and fight back tears. When she looked up at him, he sat her menu down next to the lamp on the bedside table and wiped her face clean. He smiled, but his eyes still held an eerie blankness in them. However, she could see the malice and anger behind that. It made her angry and her face hardened, clear of any emotion. He was proud of that._

_ "There's the girl I remember," he whispered softly against her cheek as he hugged her. She could feel the stir of emotions begin to rise, but they were still held down by fear, revolt and sadness. When he turned his face back to hers and kissed her softly, the sadness returned yet she kissed him back. It was over before she could really understand that they were kissing. He pulled away and went back to his robotic mannerisms._

_ "Now, don't start getting emotional on me. It's time for dinner. You need your strength, remember? Are you hungry?"_

_ Her mouth set into a tight smirk at the cruel jest about her strength. If she was at her full strength, she wouldn't have hesitated in breaking his neck. It wasn't enough for him to be just as strong as her. He needed her to be weak. _

_The murderous glint in both of their eyes intensified and she wished that she could get that needle out of her arm and have enough strength, just enough strength and time, to kill him and get free. However, she didn't have time and she didn't have the strength to kill him. So, she sat back in her bed. "I'm starving…"_

* * *

**Aimee**_  
_

My competition was intimidating. Yeah, I was short and I was fast, but the girls I'd been watching for 20 minutes were just too flexible for their own good. I looked at the cheerleaders sitting at their table, and Temperley caught my eye long enough to smirk and roll her eyes. I don't know what Saltzman was thinking when he told me to join the squad, but he was wrong about whatever it was.

With my head held high, I walked across the wooden floors and climbed the bleachers to an empty area. When I sat down, I saw a lot of the girls begin to whisper and I knew it was about me. They were probably wondering what I was doing there and if I was any good. That didn't surprise me, but I was surprised when I saw Temperley talking to her colleagues and I saw her mouth Saltzman's name. Her friends looked both shocked and upset, even though they probably had to feel upset for their friend. At least four sets of eyes glared at me and I immediately turned away from them in case one of them was a witch and thought it would be cool for everyone to watch me roast from the inside out.

Almost eight girls had auditioned before my name was called. Girl #7 was halfway through her cheer when she ran to throw up in the gym's recycling bin. There had been a brief intermission and then, girl #8 took her turn. Unfortunately, they were all good.

Once my name was called, I didn't think I would have the guts to even get up. But, everyone knew who I was and they all turned to look at me. I would've been the laughingstock of the entire school if I didn't get down there and do my thing. All at once, I missed my parents and wished that they were there to cheer me on, but they weren't. No, cheer tryouts just had to take place after school.

I walked down the bleachers, taking it one at a time. When I looked over at Temperley, she rolled her pen between her fingers and said, "I really hope that you're faster than that with your cheer."

Everyone in the gym laughed, though there wasn't a loud, uproarious laughter. I blushed slightly and picked up the pace. When I made it to the floor and stood in front of Temperley and the other cheerleaders, I watched her eyes move to someone behind me at the same time I felt someone watching me. I turned my head in the same direction of Temperley's gaze and saw Saltzman standing near the door in his football uniform. His eyes were on his girlfriend, so I didn't think he saw me until his eyes moved to me and he smiled. He had a nice smile, no matter how much he annoyed the hell out of me. His smile was pleasant and it reached his eyes and it made me smile. Damn him for being my Watcher.

I turned back to Temperley and I did my little cheer for the River Springs Razorbacks. It wasn't the best, but it wasn't completely crap. I stayed in tune and kept my voice in a normal key. When it came to the dance-slash-gymnastics part, I thought I was screwed. I thought I would be able to use my own music, but I couldn't because Temperley turned on some random song. I started to panic, especially since I never danced for anyone other than my mirror reflection. I froze and looked at my judges, who were looking at me expectantly. I could feel at least forty more pairs of eyes burning through me as well. I turned back to the only set of eyes in the entire room that wanted me to succeed. Even though his motives may not have been completely altruistic, but he was still there for me. I could sort out all of the details later. He smiled at me again, this time not so blatantly, but I smiled back at him. Then, I turned around and closed my eyes.

The music filled the entire room and only when it felt like my entire head filled with the melody, I started tapping my foot to the beat. Soon, the beat moved through my entire body and I could open my eyes again. It wasn't much longer until I was off and dancing, using as much as the floor as possible. Every move I did in front of my mirror was used in front of everyone in the gym. I bounced, popped and locked, flipped, tumbled and played a little air guitar. I even used a little bit of the ballet I'd learned when I was little. I thoroughly entertained everyone, so much so that Temperley and the other cheerleaders that were sitting with her did something they hadn't done with any of the other girls auditioning. They got up from their seats, came to the middle of the gym and started doing a routine that looked super complicated without the flying.

I stopped my dancing and watched Temperley do what she did best while she had three other cheerleaders follow her lead. Everyone in the gym had whipped themselves into a frenzy. Apparently, this was the first time they'd seen something like this and they made it known with their dancing, whoops and hollers. When it seemed like the four girls had repeated their moves and I felt confident enough, I approached Temperley and did every move she did, only backwards. To be honest, I was probably just as surprised as she was. I had done that once before, when I was 10 years old and I was secretly watching my mom train, but that was the only time. Doing the cheer exactly like Temperley was doing it, completely a shock.

When the song was over, I was gasping for breath but everyone on the bleachers got up in applause for me. They loved me. They really loved me. As for Temperley, she didn't like me so much. Still, she would've put through the ringer if she didn't let me join the team after at least dancing my ass off against her. She realized this as well, as the audience got quiet and waited for her answer. She sneered at me and I realized that her face probably always looked like that behind the fake smile, but that smile was up before anyone else saw the truth and she said, "Welcome to the team, Aimee."

Everyone started cheering again and Temperley sauntered over to Saltzman, whose smile was wider. When everyone filed out of the gym, Saltzman whispered something to Temperley and she headed out of the gym as well. She gave me one last lingering glance and it wasn't a sneer. She actually looked like she may have been a little proud of me, or happy that she'd let someone on the team who could at least keep up. Either way, I would have to cheer with her, so I had to deal with whatever I had to deal with. That didn't leave me any less alone with Saltzman than I was. He approached me and just when I thought I would be hugged, I stepped back. He chuckled and held out his hand. I shook it and he said, "Congrats, Harris. You did it."

"Yeah," I replied, "I _did_ do it."

He began to head out of the gym and as he was almost out of the door, he looked back at me. "I'll see you at practice tomorrow."

Something hit me almost as soon as he said it, and I felt like dread washed over me. Suddenly, I figured it out. I was now officially a Slayer, with her very own Kung-Fu grip, cheerleading abilities and very hot Watcher. None of them sold separately...


	11. Chapter 9: Buried

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note: Alright, this is my second full chapter posted in two days. I hope you all don't get used to this. This chapter does not have any sections for you all to figure out, even though the New York story does have a great importance to this story. For those of you who are curious as to what's going on there, the answer will be given in the final chapter, and it's not what you expect. In the meantime, enjoy Buffy arguing with Xander, Aimee finding out some of her mother's secrets and Saltzman's narration on Buffy's past and Aimee's present. I will leave you with one more message about this story, and it's pretty cliched. Still, I'm going to say it. Expect the unexpected.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Buried  
**

* * *

**Buffy  
**

Lexi was at a friend's house and Aimee had stayed after school to try out for the cheerleading squad, which meant that Xander and I had alone time in the house. After some much needed time christening as many rooms as we could, we ended up back in our bedroom so he could give me a massage.

The ice on my neck was melting and the cool trickle of water felt great against my skin while I began to doze off to sleep. Soon, Xander's voice woke me back up.

"So, you never told me what happened in New York."

My eyes jolted open and I turned to face my husband, the ice slipping down my back and the cold making me flinch. I didn't want to talk about it, but the look on Xander's face made it very clear that he wasn't going to let it go. I knew he'd been waiting for a good time to talk about it, but there was nothing to explain. I'd run into some trouble there and I didn't see Aimee for a couple of days, but we'd both got out of it alright. Three days later, I found out that I was pregnant with Lexi. Still, Xander wanted to know and I'd never told him for almost ten years. So, I decided to bite the bullet. "Nothing happened there, Xand. I just got into a minor scrape and I didn't know how to get out of it at first, but I did and I'm fine."

"What about Amelia? Is she fine?"

"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You took her with you, knowing that I wasn't going and that she was only a child. You may have turned out alright, but something could've happened to her. She may have some repressed memories that may screw her up because you still wanted to be a bad-ass Slayer."

After rubbing me the right way, Xander was really starting to rub me the wrong way. "This was over ten years ago. I never hid what I did and what the world was like from my daughter. She was fine and the only memories she has are the ones of me slaying. She wasn't hurt and she will never get hurt."

"_Your_ daughter, Buff? It's funny how she's _your_ daughter when you have to prove that you _do _care about her."

I slapped him. I hadn't consciously thought about hitting him, but I only realized that I had once it was already done. I opened my mouth to apologize, but I felt someone behind me. I wasn't sure until I saw Xander looking past me, so I turned around to see who it was and found Aimee in the doorway. I don't know how much she'd seen and heard, but she looked stricken and pale. She'd definitely seen me slap Xander, on top of us being nude. I called her name and she quickly apologized. After she practically took off and we heard the door to her room close, I got out of bed and threw on a robe. When I headed out to Aimee's room, I told Xander that I did care about my daughter. It was true, but it also didn't mean that I loved her.

Aimee was doing her homework when I came into her room. I could tell she was intentionally not looking at me, but my heart cracked when she said, "It's alright if you don't care about me, Mom. I'm pretty sure that's the case with most accidental babies, but don't take it out on Dad."

I touched her face and she looked up at me with her pretty doe-like blue eyes. I could tell she was trying not to cry, but a few tears ran down her face when I replied, "You may have been an accident, but I care about you so much. As for me and your father, well, we're fine. We were just having a conversation about something that happened when you were little, something he didn't approve of. But, none of that matters because you're fine and you're here and I love you. You'll always be my little girl."

As soon as I told her I loved her, I knew that I meant it and I felt conflicted. I had taken care of her and raised her as best as I could, but I kept my distance from her as she grew older. I knew it was wrong to do it, especially since I was talking about my own child and she was nothing like a lover or a friend to me, but I still did it. I wasn't proud of it, but I was afraid to love her, especially if she was going to end up like her father.

She moved my hand from her face after I wiped her tears away and her grip was a little too strong. Still I didn't say anything, because it appeared that she wasn't even aware of it. She went back to her homework and then she looked back up at me. "I made the cheerleading squad. Saltzman was there to root for me."

I was really hoping to avoid talking to Aimee about that boy, but it seemed to be unavoidable. However, it puzzled me how close they seemed to be after only two days of school.

"Doesn't he have a girlfriend, Amelia?" I asked as I unbraided her hair and ran my fingers through it.

"Well, yeah. What does that have to do with me, though?"

"It just seems like he's paying a lot of attention to you. I mean, you're a beautiful girl but I just want to know what his intentions are with you."

Aimee chuckled. "There are none. Mom, it's not what you think. He's just my friend. He's a friend and nothing more. He's not even cute to me."

"He's not?" I had started to question my daughter's taste in men when I remembered that she shouldn't have any taste in men at fourteen. When she grimaced and shook her head, it drove that theory right home. Despite myself, I laughed.

"Mom, did something happen to me in New York? Do you think someone did something to me that could make me…different than other people?"

I stopped laughing and looked at her. She looked equal parts scared and curious. I shook my head and touched her face again, and that seemed to be enough, but I knew there was time that it wouldn't be. To be honest, I didn't know if anything happened to her when we were there. That she didn't remember was a good thing, but I didn't want her to think about it anymore. I didn't want her to open any old wounds that couldn't be closed again.

When I got off of her bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower, I took one last look at her and smiled when I saw that she was doing her homework again. I left her room with plans to talk to Xander about never mentioning the New York incident again. I wanted to make sure that Aimee never found out what happened there.

* * *

**Aimee**

If my mother thought that I would totally get past the fact that she was in some serious denial, she was dead wrong. I thought back to when I'd first met Saltzman and something he said about knowing things I didn't know about, and I picked up my phone. After I dialed his number, it rang a couple of times before he picked it up and said, "This better be good, Harris."

I didn't even want to know what that meant, so I replied, "Do you know anything about my mom going to New York when I was a little girl?"

"Huh?"

"I heard my parents arguing over something that happened in New York, and they got really pissed at each other about it. Does the Watchers' Council have any info about it?"

At first, there was silence on the other end of the phone. Then, I heard him typing on his computer. When he finally came back to the phone, he cleared his throat. "It looks like your mom had a run in with a vampire there, someone named Riley Finn. He used to be, get this, part of a secret government installation called the Initiative before he was sired. I tell you, those government things never work out. Anyway, it mentions that Riley had your mom hostage for a few days, but it mentions nothing about you."

I let out a sigh of relief until Saltzman's voice floated up from the receiver. "Wait, hold that thought. It says that Finn…He _tested_ you?"

"What? What does that mean, Saltzman? What does that mean?"

More silence. It only made me wish I was at his place so I could see exactly what he was looking at in those secret Watchers' Council files he was looking at. There was a loud clatter on his end of the phone and I called his name, afraid that someone had gotten to him. After some more shuffling and clicking, he picked the phone back up and replied, "Sorry about that. I just got a little sidetracked. As it turned out, this Finn guy, um, he didn't do anything to you. That statement was just a little odd, but I sorted it out. He didn't do anything to you. In fact, he didn't do anything to your mom, either. It just looks like he was keeping her for someone else. Who that person was, I have no idea. It's not mentioned here. She managed to get free, though. Did you know your mom dated him?"

"What did you say?" I could feel a Pandora's Box opening as soon as he said that. I _didn't_ know that she dated a vampire.

"Yeah, your mom was quite a vamp groupie. She dated three vampires. Two of them were - hold that thought."

Silence again. This time, I could hear Temperley's voice. She seemed like she was a little miffed. Saltzman began to talk to her, but I couldn't hear anything but mumbling. When he came back, I heard more shuffling and then his voice returned. "Yeah, I'm back. Look, forget what I told you about your mom being a vamp groupie. I am _clearly_ not reading the correct file. Forgive me. I'm a little distracted. Temperley's here with me."

"I know. I could hear her."

"Yep, well, talk to you later." Click.

Screw you very much, Saltzman.

My mom came out of the bathroom in her robe and I gazed at her, feeling a bit of anger. There was so much that Lexi and I didn't know about her, like that she used to date vampires. Still, I couldn't say anything to her about it or she would wonder where I got my info from, which would make her assume that Dad told me. That would lead to an argument between them in which my father would proclaim his innocence and the subject would therefore lead back to me and where I got it. It would only be a matter of time until she discovered that I was a Slayer and that Saltzman was my Watcher. Then, she and I would have an argument about it and I would have to explain how I found out Saltzman was my Watcher, which would lead to his very violent death. So, I couldn't say anything about my latest discovery of the stranger I called my mom because if I did, it would lead to the death of the jerk I called my Watcher. Something told me that I would not win in that situation.

I continued to do my homework but because it was a Friday, I didn't have much to do. Lexi wasn't home and my parents were back to doing goodness knows what, so I was alone. I thought about going to Saltzman's house, but Temperley was there and I didn't know where he lived. I was bored, so I decided to go downstairs and make dinner.

When I came out of my room, I found the door to my parents' bedroom closed. I could hear them talking and it seemed pretty heated. I hated when they argued, especially since it always seemed like Dad could just leave and never come back. I never told anyone that, even though Dad always tried his hardest to keep me and Lexi happy, but he always seemed a little sad when he looked at me. Maybe he was the one who didn't care about me and mom was the one who did. Still, how could I trust people that were keeping secrets from their children?

* * *

**Christopher**

Shortly after I got off the phone with Aimee, Temperley left. So, I did what any good Watcher would do and went back to my computer to read up on Ms. Summers' files. Apparently, my superiors forgot to tell me to read it to get a clearer picture of her daughter.

I didn't like what I was reading. Sure, she had been a juvenile delinquent, but that tends to be the case with most potential Slayers with a shitload of power and no idea what it's for and how to use it. It was the story between the lines I didn't like. She was a closeted vamp case who didn't marry her husband until she was five months pregnant with her oldest daughter. Her husband, by the way, was someone who had been sweet on her since they were teenagers and the feeling was never reciprocated until they just randomly got married. No, that didn't make a lick of sense, especially since her new husband was a demon case.

Ms. Summers' history with two notoriously evil vampires had me concerned about what exactly I could see with Aimee if she made the wrong choices. Rupert Giles may have been pretty lenient with her when she was his charge, but I was reading what it led to and how dumb it was for him to let her off that easily.

I continued to read about Ms. Summers and most of it was really upsetting to read. She'd died twice. She'd been saved by CPR the first time. Good thing Mr. Harris knew about the "airway, breathing; circulation" routine. What got me was that she'd been brought back to life by a spell the second time. Her secret weapon in the destruction of Sunnydale was a witch who'd been hell bent on destroying the world after her lover was killed by a stray bullet, which had been attached to a gun attached to some nerd who'd gotten power happy. This was the same witch she used as a secret weapon months later. Let's not forget that Secret Weapon #2 was a vampire with a soul and a necklace that'd turned to dust and then became a non-corporeal being attached to Wolfram and Hart. He later became corporeal and helped Ms. Summers again in what I can only imagine as being her not-really-shocking-at-this-point decision to activate every potential Slayer in the damn world. Yeah, the Council saw where that left her.

Ms. Summers had a pretty long file to read through. After she destroyed some kind of egg in the Sunnydale ruins, she lived in San Francisco with Mr. Harris and his girlfriend, her sister. I had to roll my eyes at that. There was some more to that story, but I skimmed it so I could get to the part about _my _charge. That didn't stop me, however, from wishing for a split second that Aimee was someone else's problem just because she could possibly end up like her mother and Ms. Summers had been quite the handful. I forgot to mention she pitched herself off of a makeshift tower after she destroyed a demi-god, all for her mystical ball of energy turned sister, the same one that dated Mr. Harris.

When I got to what I was looking for, I noticed for the first time that Mr. Harris had taken to writing about Ms. Summers shortly after she'd destroyed the egg thing at the Sunnydale ruins. He'd started his journals with a brief rundown of what happened to Giles and ultimately, it came down to the fact that he'd died at the hands of the vampire Mrs. Harris had just slept with only days before. That same vampire had been possessed by something called "Twilight," not to be mistaken for the book and subsequent movie sagas. None of it made sense at first, because it didn't make sense to Mr. Harris. Ms. Summers, who wasn't his wife at the time, ran off to Paris with one of her vampire lovers. She disappeared for some time and then ended up back on the Council's radar almost a year later, after her lover died. The last couple of paragraphs made sense to me but at the same time, they didn't. These paragraphs were the ones that had the most details about Aimee, and I immediately wanted to stop reading them because I learned a whole lot of things I didn't think I should know and didn't want to know anymore at that point. However, you can't un-see what's already been seen.

What had I stumbled upon?


	12. Chapter 10: I've Been Told

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note: This chapter is going to be pretty scattered, but the three points of views from Christopher, Buffy and Aimee are all really integral because Christopher is just as much of the story (which was something completely unexpected) as everyone else. In this chapter, another clue to Aimee's biggest secret is revealed. She's also given a chance to cheer in front of an audience, and a new character is alluded to. There'll be more on this character, as well as some more supporting characters getting face time in the next chapter. In the meantime, enjoy!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 10: I've Been Told…**

* * *

**Christopher  
**

Six hours after reading Ms. Summers' file in the Watchers' Council's database, I was still staring at the screen. It had occurred to me during the 23rd time that I wasn't going to be proven wrong, even though I wished I was. Why I hadn't been told any of this didn't make sense but at the same time, it made all the sense in the world. As soon as Mr. Harris married Ms. Summers, being her Watcher had become a conflict of interest and he retired. His notes on everything, however, were archived. While they never expected their daughter to become a Slayer, and they were still blissfully unaware for the time being, she'd caught enough attention after burning down a known vampire hangout that it was almost necessary for her to have a Watcher. Still, the Watchers' Council was based in London and giving Aimee one there would've been too risky. When they'd promoted me out of the academy, they needed to kill two birds with one stone, hence sending me and my mom to River Springs. They knew Ms. Summers was on her way, so they sent me ahead to get acquainted with the city. They also knew that there were things that Aimee shouldn't know about her mother, especially since some of those secrets coincided with her conception. So, we were fine as long as I was oblivious to her lineage, which still had me puzzled. However, they were complete and utter idiots for not hiding all of the other files because I now knew a great deal of everything.

I thought about calling my superiors. Alas, I didn't because I was sitting at my computer with a bottle of Bourbon half empty next to it. As much as I wanted to blame the Council for their hypocrisy about Aimee's mom, I didn't want to lose my job. I think I was finally making headway with Aimee. I just really wished that she hadn't called me about the New York Incident.

Even though vampires were the bane of my existence, I had to thank Mr. Riley Finn for two things. First and foremost, I had to thank him because had it not been for his deep affection for Ms. Summers, Aimee would've been his midnight snack. Secondly, I wanted to thank him for shining a new light on the New York incident, which had apparently never been brought up in the Summers/Harris household but was clearly told in immense detail to the Watchers' Council. Finn had been holding Ms. Summers hostage for another vampire, someone with enough clout to have that much power over lesser vamps. He'd held her for two days before she found out that they had Aimee as well. That led Ms. Summers to go rogue and destroy almost everyone in that compound, everyone except Mr. Finn. She brought him back with her to England and after he had been interrogated, he killed himself. It was a damn shame, if you asked me, but enough to get what I didn't want to know anymore processed in my brain.

I looked at my clock and groaned. It was 2 in the morning, and I had a game to sit on my ass and watch that afternoon. There was really nothing for me to do other than call out plays to my substitute and the rest of the team, but it showed solidarity for the team and for everyone in school that came to the games to know that I was still the quarterback and I still supported the team. It didn't matter that I couldn't see the scoreboard while I was playing.

My glasses were a clutch and yet, I still remained popular in school. I guess that was a sign that times had changed. I had enough moments in school, however, where my coach or my girlfriend wanted them off. I guess I could see where they were coming from, but I wasn't any good if I couldn't see shit. Whatever the matter was concerning them, they weren't that helpful that night because I was on my way to be drunk and tired, and the glare from the computer had completely screwed up my eyes.

I looked at my bed and despite being partially drunk and tired; I knew I wouldn't get any sleep. I hadn't gotten a full night's sleep in over a year. My doctor said I had insomnia and gave me some really nifty pills to help me with that, but I didn't take them unless I needed to. For instance, I took one every night so I could at least get some rest for school if it was a school night. Other than that, I could do without them. After reading some very deep stuff, I found myself reaching for my pill bottle. I know that you're not supposed to mix meds with alcohol, so I dry swallowed it and then crept to my bathroom to wash it down with a handful of water. It kicked in a lot sooner than I expected.

I stumbled my way to bed and knocked my lamp over. It didn't matter to me. I'd just pick up the glass in the morning. My mother, as per usual, wasn't home. She was in London, so I had the house entirely to myself. Come to think of it, I actually was alone in the house more than a normal sixteen year old should've been and yet half of my teammates and friends still haven't seen my house. I planned on changing that. I decided that it was time to see where all of my friends stood. So, the decision had been clearly made for me to throw a party. I didn't have much time to think it through, though. I fell asleep.

* * *

**Aimee**

Completely and utterly lethargic. After cheering my butt off at the audition the day before, I woke up unable to move. It was as if my mind was telling me to get up and my body was telling my mind to get screwed. It even hurt to breathe. If this had been the first time it happened, then I would be shocked and terrified, but it wasn't and I wasn't. Instead, I screamed as loud as I could to get my parents in the room as fast as possible.

Dad was the first one to come in. I turned my head to look at him and then, he rushed back out to my mom, who was on her way in. I heard their feet heading in the opposite direction of the room and tried to figure out how heading in the other direction would be helpful to me. When they came back into the room, my dad took the cap off of the syringe in his hand and jabbed it into my arm. It hurt, but I couldn't squirm because my limbs had given up on me. Whatever my dad shot into me immediately began to work. It was easier to breathe and suddenly my body felt like jelly. I pushed myself into in an upright position and my parents looked at each other. Then, my mother took me into her arms and held me close to her. My dad put his hand with the syringe behind his back and it took me a moment to realize that I was now aware of everything around me.

I could hear the birds flying around outside my window. I could smell every separate scent of breakfast downstairs. I could feel every pore of my mom's bare skin bristling against mine. I pushed her away and she ran her fingers through my hair. The sound and the feel of it grated against my brain and I winced as quietly as I could.

When my mom got off my bed, she walked next to my dad and said, "Breakfast is almost done. Are you hungry? You should really eat."

I smiled weakly. "I'll eat in just a little while, Mom. I just need to wake up."

They both seemed to take that well, so they left my room and headed back down to the kitchen. I could hear every time they went down a step. When Lexi walked in, I didn't have the strength to tell her to get lost, so she sat down next to me and said, "Dad said that you made it on the cheerleading squad. Does that mean you get pom-pons?"

I nodded and Lexi smiled. I could already see her destroying them, so I added a disclaimer. "If you destroy them, I'll destroy you."

"Yeah, right. Mom said you're too busy with your new boyfriend, so you don't have any time to destroy me."

"I don't have a new boyfriend. I have a new friend, and it's a boy. He's not my boyfriend, though."

"Does he know you're a Slayer like Mom?"

I asked her to push up the door and she did, like an obedient little sister. When she came back to my bed, I leaned in and whispered, "You can't tell anyone this, but he's my Watcher. He's supposedly really smart or something, so he graduated early and got a job with the Council."

"Cool," Lexi replied. Then, she frowned. "Do you think that I'll become a Slayer, too, when I get older?"

I had been so busy with getting used to high school and getting used to Saltzman that I didn't actually think that Lexi could be a Slayer as well. It also made me realize that we would never find out unless either I died or Mom did. I didn't like that scenario, no matter how it was put. I didn't want to die, and I didn't want Mom to die. My thoughts must have been written all over my face, because Lexi didn't say anything else about it. Still, I could tell she was concerned about it. I hugged her, and my heightened senses began to ease. When we parted, I looked her deep in the eyes and said, "Look, it'll be alright. I'll ask Saltzman about it later. There must be some way to tell ahead of time. If there is, we'll look into it but as for right now, we don't tell anyone about _any_ of this. You can't tell Mom or Dad, or any of your friends. I don't know who we can trust now, not even Saltzman. Okay?"

Lexi nodded and instead of sending her back to the kitchen, I managed to get myself out of bed and we headed to the kitchen together. While I doubted that Mom would take us to Los Angeles now that I had a game to go to later, I was glad that at least one person in the family was now aware of my new situation. Nevertheless, I was afraid that Lexi could end up in any crossfire I got entangled in because of what she knew. The list of things I needed to talk to Saltzman about just got longer.

* * *

**Buffy**

Xander and I made a compromise. After contacting the Watchers' Council about Aimee's exam, he headed to LA so he could do some investigating while I went with Aimee and Lexi to Aimee's first Razorbacks' game.

Aimee looked so pretty in her uniform and her hair in pigtails. I was proud of her, even though I was a little nervous wondering if she would have a relapse. I didn't particularly enjoy injecting Aimee with anything, but it needed to be done. Now, I had the chance to see my daughter cheer and I couldn't be happier about that.

While the game droned on, I turned my attention to the sidelines. Christopher was standing next to the Gatorade container and talking to the head cheerleader. I had yet to meet her, but I assumed she wasn't much different than Cordelia. She was dark hair, curvy and she seemed like she had major attitude. It was like Cordelia Jr., but she was dead and there were times when I mourned her. When I was pregnant with Aimee, I thought it would have been great if she had been around to help me pick out maternity clothes because I'd spent a good four months with a hideous wardrobe.

While Christopher talked with the cheerleader, I watched his body language. He was tense, but it didn't seem like they were having a serious conversation. His arm seemed to be out of its sling, but he favored it so he wouldn't end up injuring it again. If the people in the stands hadn't been so high, I would've been able to hear them talking. I was definitely curious about the conversation, especially when the cheerleader seemed to glance towards Aimee. I could feel myself frowning and I knew that if one of them did turn out to be a vampire, they were dead.

The cheerleader extracted herself from the conversation and went to the middle of the field to cheer along with the rest of the squad. With Lexi, I cheered as I saw my daughter almost front and center – mostly just center – started dancing along with her new comrades to one of the songs that was playing on the airwaves these days. I think it was by Madonna's daughter's daughter or something like that.

Lexi knew all of the words and was singing along to it while Aimee cheered and danced with more rhythm than the other cheerleaders. I got the impression that they were being stiff because they wanted the crowd to pay more attention to the cheering instead of the dancing. Aimee hadn't gotten that message yet because when they danced, she _danced_. When they cheered, she _cheered_. Her moves even caught Christopher's eye. As soon as the cheer was finished, all of the cheerleaders jumped up and down and squealed Razorbacks, much to my amusement. Even though I never imagined it, Aimee looked downright happy in her uniform. I wasn't the only one who thought that way, either, because I happened to catch one of the football players smiling her way.

* * *

**Aimee**

As soon as I was on the sidelines, Saltzman approached me with a cup of Gatorade in his hand. He sat down next to me and said, "You did a good job. You actually looked like you were enjoying yourself."

"That's because I was, Saltzman," I replied. Whether I may have disagreed with it initially, cheerleading was actually fun. When I looked at my Watcher, I noticed how bad he looked. He had bags under his eyes and they were somewhat bloodshot. "Have you been drinking?"

"I may be slightly hung over, but it's not like I'm playing. I'm here for solidarity. Are we patrolling tonight, because I may need to take a rain check on that."

I shrugged. "That's fine. This morning, I woke up and I couldn't move. I _literally_ couldn't move. My dad had to give me a shot of insulin, otherwise I would still be bedridden. I need some rest."

Saltzman looked at me and frowned. "How many times has that happen?"

"I don't know, maybe three or four times. Why?"  
He shook his head. "Never mind. It's not important."

"Saltzman, is there a way I can see if Lexi will become a Slayer before she's activated, if she is?"

"Are you planning on killing your mom?"

"What? No! Lexi was curious." He was beginning to get on my last nerve.

"Then, it's not important. It's likely that she won't become one. _You_ got lucky - or damned - however you see it. What you should be concerned about is making sure your sister doesn't spill her guts, and that no vampire spills them for her."

Before I could reply, he got up and walked away. I thought about following him. I really did, but something stopped me. Namely, one of the football players practically staring at me. When our eyes met, he smiled and waved, and I smiled and waved back. He was cute; blonde hair, blue eyes and tall. He couldn't have been much older than me, but he was definitely younger than Saltzman, just not by much. The smiling was nice, but there was still a game going on and I had no clue if I would get to talk to this cute guy that was smiling at me.

The game continued without a hitch and the Razorbacks won with a 31-17 lead. As the football field cleared out, I watched as Saltzman left arm in arm with Temperley, and I thought about what he'd told me. I began to wonder if I'd been damned for becoming a Slayer like my mom and if Lexi would turn out to be the lucky one with the long life span and the weight of the world off of her shoulders. The thought kept me preoccupied even after my mom and Lexi came to tell me how great I'd been and how they were now going to come to every game with Dad to see me cheer. Maybe they sensed my unease throughout the car ride home until I ended up back in my room, but my mom and Lexi never mentioned it. Instead, they left me alone to think through whatever I had to think through.


	13. Chapter 11: In the Company of Friends

**Title: Chosen**

**Author: Belle Auteur**

**Rated T for language, violence and adult situations**

**Author's Note: I do not own anything within the Buffyverse or that Joss Whedon has created, but I would totally be willing to work for him. **

**Summary: Meet Buffy Summers, almost 20 years after she changed the world. At 40 years old, she and her husband has relocated to River Springs, California from London, England, to the dismay of Buffy's teenage daughter, Aimee. Aimee knows that her mother is the greatest slayer to have ever lived, but Aimee has secrets of her own. Told from Buffy and Aimee's points of view. ****A/U yet Canonical. Includes some of the events from Season 8 but there are some changes.**

**Author's Note: Sorry for such the late, late update. There's a big reward for the long wait, though. Again, the POV changes from Christopher to Aimee to Buffy, and there's some awesome foreshadowing when it comes to the relationship between Christopher and Buffy that may not be as harmless and cute as it may appears.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 11: In the Company of Friends**

* * *

**Christopher  
**

I got a text from Temperley while I'd been sleep. Kirk Wahler, one of the linebackers on the team, was throwing a party to celebrate the Razorbacks' victory and she wanted me to come. When I'd gotten up, the party still had yet to start and I decided that it would be good for me to go, since I was alone in my house and therefore bored. I jumped in the shower, shaved my practically non-existent stubble and got dressed in about a half an hour. It was as I was bandaging my arm that I'd picked up my phone and texted Aimee. I didn't know if she would come, but I knew that it would be a good idea if she came and how pissed she would be if I hadn't invited her. Once the text was sent, I left it up to her. She could go or not, but I was hoping that Ms. Summers was a cooler mom than I expected her to be. It was no longer a concern of mine once I got in my car and drove to Temperley's house.

The party was as expected; loud and pretty raucous. Temperley poured herself over me and gave me a kiss, which tasted like vodka. Say what you want about her, but Temperley knew how to party.

"I'm so glad you made it. Principal Summers Jr. is here and she was looking for you, but she can't have you right now because you're with me. That's how I like it. That's how I always like it. Now, come out and dance with me," she cooed in my face. I held her by her hips and her body felt good against mine, but I was now interested in getting to my Slayer.

Common sense dictates that when someone hands you a cup, you don't drink from it. I laugh at the face of common sense. Kirk handed me a red cup and I took a sip from it, still slightly hung over from the bourbon and pain pills. Whatever was in the cup tasted sweet and it was actually pretty good. I was about ¾ done by the time I found Aimee in the middle of a fierce video game battle. When she saw me, she put her hand on her competitor's shoulder and whispered something in his ear. He then smiled at her and she got up from her place, allowing someone to jump right on the couch. She was excited when she came up to me, the kind of excited a person was when they'd been invited to their first raucous party with booze.

"This is _so_ cool! Thank you for telling me about the party. People first thought I was, like, a narc or something but then Kirk handed me a cup of something spicy. It was _good_!"

She was drunk. How I was going to explain that to her parents, I had no idea. That would've been the part where I would've asked Temperley to cover for me, but she was also as drunk as Lindsay Lohan celebrating Tuesday. At the moment, I was feeling very screwed.

I ushered her towards the pool and endured her endless questions about how my life was before becoming a Watcher and how I planned on making her one of the greatest Slayers ever. I would've covered her mouth, but over 75% of the people we walked past were blitzed or sucking face. I doubt that they were paying attention to what Aimee was saying. When I stopped her, she looked at me with her wide eyes and I noticed that her eyes weren't the same color as her mother's. I told her that I needed her to pay attention for a moment, since I had something to tell her, and she blurted out, "I think someone likes me!"

"What," I asked, puzzled.

"One of the football players was smiling at me today at the game."

I blew off her comment. "Of course he was. You were wearing a short skirt. Look, I need to talk to you about your mom and that thing you asked me about yesterday."

She frowned and shook her head, totally confused with the words that were coming out of my mouth. Her eyes glazed over for a moment and then, she looked up at me. "Saltzman, I couldn't move this morning. My limbs weren't cooperating with my brain…squirrel. My dad totally shot me up with something. You have to check that out for me."

I told her I would but to be honest, I was pretty sure that she had made that up. By that time, whatever had been in the cup that Kirk had given me was going to my head as well. She then clutched her stomach and murmured that she wasn't feeling good. I put my good arm around her shoulder and hurriedly ushered her to a nearby shrub, where I listened to her retch up whatever spicy drink she'd ingested as well as anything she'd eaten before that. It didn't sound great at all.

She finished vomiting about a minute later, and a minute can be pretty long if you're listening and mentally patting yourself for not letting the freshman puke on your brand new shoes. It surprised me that once she'd gotten the alcohol out of her stomach, she seemed almost completely sober but not enough to convince me to let her go home. She walked over to the pool and curled into a little ball, not listening to anything or anyone as I'd been asking her if she was alright and she hadn't responded. I then watched as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

I shook her to wake her up, but she wasn't responding. The smell of her sour breath assaulting my face was the only indication that she was still alive; I couldn't find her pulse. It was as I was shaking her that I heard Kirk scream that someone had come in and people started running like hell. When I stood up to see who it was, it felt like my worst fears were coming true because the person who walked into the party was Buffy.

Looking both ways as if I was a kindergartner getting ready to cross the street, I threw my coat over her and then cursed myself. It wasn't going to make her magically invisible. Thankfully, a sober girl with dark blonde hair approached me and said, "Is that Aimee? We have to get her out of here before her mom finds her."

I looked back towards the house and asked the girl to help me get Aimee to my car. We struggled for a couple of minutes but then, Aimee became a little more conscious and moved with us. It took about ten minutes to get her into the car and I thanked the girl who helped me. She smiled at me and replied, "No problem. I didn't want Aimee to get in trouble. I'm Savannah."

I held out my good hand to shake hers and I felt a smile cross my face. She was cute and I had a girlfriend, so I couldn't cross any boundaries but I didn't plan to. She walked away with the smile still on her face and I then shuffled Aimee into my car. It took me long enough, since I had one functioning arm and she was heavier than she looked, but I did it. I closed her door and looked back towards the house one more time, which was the exact moment that Buffy turned her head and met my eyes. I didn't know what look was on my face, but I was sure that it didn't match how I felt. As I looked at her, I felt like I knew all of her secrets and she wasn't as powerful as she seemed. When she looked back at me, her mouth was set and a victorious glint was in her eyes as if she'd won something. I wanted to get that look off her face, but I didn't. Instead, I jumped in my car and turned the key in the ignition, anxious to get Aimee out of there as soon as possible.

* * *

**Aimee**

When I woke up, my head was pounding. My stomach felt empty. My mouth felt like I'd swallowed sand. Whatever the spicy drink I'd had was left an odd aftertaste. A juice box on the nightstand next to me was the first thing I noticed besides the fact that I wasn't in my own bed and something wet was on my forehead. Then, I noticed that Saltzman was sitting in front of a computer. He had shadows under his eyes behind his glasses and his hair was rumpled. His bad arm wasn't covered with a bandage and the stitches looked uneven and grisly, like he'd done them himself. I had to divert my gaze because the sight of them was not pretty. When I called him, he glared at me and said, "Never drink anything spicy at Kirk Wahler's house."

"I get that now," I murmured and propped myself up in the bed. The sheets smelled like him, a mixture of clean laundry and a hint of really good cologne. "Why am I in your room?"

"You're in my room because if I brought you home, I would be out of a job right now."

I watched him type with his free hand and it was odd because he seemed like he wasn't having any trouble with it. It was as the shower had stopped that I realized that someone had been in there the entire time. I looked towards the door just in time to see Temperley walk in, wearing one of Saltzman's shirts with her hair wrapped in a towel. Last time I'd seen her, she was close to dancing on top of a table so seeing her sober propelled me to wonder what time it was. My jaw dropped when I noticed that it was three in the morning.

"Don't worry," Temperley cooed, "your mom thinks you're at my house having a slumber party with some of the other girls on the squad. I'm not saving your ass again."

Saltzman smiled at his girlfriend and even though I found him ridiculously annoying at times, I think I hated Temperley more. She sat down across from me on the bed and just stared; prompting me to wonder what the hell she was looking at. Then, she blurted out, "You look just like your mom. Chrissy, doesn't she look just like her mom?"

"Yes, she does, sweetums," Saltzman said as he stood up from his chair. "I'm going to the kitchen. Is anyone hungry?"

Temperley shook her head and continued to look at me. I glanced up at Saltzman and replied, "I'm starving."

"I hope you like pizza." With that, he walked out of the room and left me with his girlfriend.

She continued to look at me with sheer curiosity but something crept into her eyes. It took me a moment to realize that it was bitterness. Biting her lip, she shook her head at me. "I don't see it."

"See what?" I whispered. She made me feel like I was two feet tall."

"I don't see what it is about you that he's so interested in. You haven't even been here a good week and it's like you're attached to his hip or something. If you were closer to my level, I would probably be jealous, but I'm not. Still, I just don't see what makes you so special."

I opened my mouth to speak and then I closed it. I could've told her the truth, but she wouldn't have believed me. Nobody would unless they were me, or my mom, or Saltzman. So, I didn't say what I wanted to say. Instead, I covered my bases and shrugged. "Maybe he's taken pity on me."

"Chris doesn't pity anyone or anything," she clipped.

I wondered what that meant but Saltzman walked back into the room before I could ask. He looked at the two of us, probably to see if we had signs of struggling. Once he found us fine, he shrugged and handed me a plate with a couple of slices of pizza on it. I quietly ate my food and Temperley stood to hug her boyfriend. Although it was wrong, it was satisfying to have gotten under Temperley's skin.

* * *

**Buffy**

The house was a little lonely without Aimee there and I wanted to call her to see if she was alright, even though it was almost four in the morning and she would've been asleep.

It had taken me hours to call the parents of kids I'd caught at Kirk Wahler's party. Most of the kids I'd reprimanded were glad that I didn't call the cops. Nevertheless, nobody talked and I was tempted to get them to say something.

The silence was almost deafening and I was left with my thoughts. It wasn't much of a surprise that I thought like a Slayer even when I thought about my domestic life: what I was doing right, what I was doing wrong, what it took for me to protect those I loved. One of the most prominent thoughts in my head was that I had to fix my relationship with Aimee. I knew it was fractured, but I didn't want her to go out in the world once she was 18 and feel like she was completely alone. She was still my child. I'd still carried her in my body for nine torturous months and then raised her for 14 years.

My thoughts were interrupted by Xander, who kissed the back of my neck and said, "Can't sleep?"

I shook my head and replied, "I'm worried about Aimee."

"She'll be fine, Buff. We want her to fit in, right?"

"Right, but she still doesn't know her way around completely and I don't want her to end up –"

"You don't want her to end up in another situation like she did in London? We don't know how she ended up there. For all we know, she could've seen your notes on that nightclub and was crying out for attention, only for it to backfire on her. I doubt she'll do it again, unless she has a death wish."

Even though I shouldn't have, I felt a tug in my heart. I was worried that she did, that some part of my DNA had rubbed off on her or worse. I don't know what look was on my face, but Xander backed up with his hands up. Our conversation was interrupted sharply by our doorbell ringing. I glanced at Xander and walked to the door, thinking that Aimee had returned home and forgot her keys. Xander fell in behind me and when I opened the door, my jaw dropped as my other best friend, Willow Rosenberg, stood in front of me.

Willow and I hadn't seen each other in about five years. She had been traveling to enhance her magic in a more positive way. We had talked on the phone a lot, but I was never fully confident that she had forgiven me for what I had done back in the Sunnydale ruins, taking away her magic like that. It had been Aimee who had brought us back together, after Xander had told her about Aimee's circumstances. Now, she was standing at my door and though I was happy to see her, part of me wondered what she was here for. I wasn't sorry for what I had done and I would never apologize for it.

I gave her hug and she said, "I heard you have another Slayer on your hands."

Pulling away, I frowned. "We still haven't found her. She may be dead or she may be like Faith, chilling out in some seedy motel, all ready to befriend a mayor posing as a snake or ready to do the principal of the high – never mind."

"How are the girls?"

I shrugged. "They're fine. Aimee's starting high school, so she's really a teenager now. Thank God I have Lexi. She's still 10. I still have time with her, but Aimee is adjusting pretty well, especially after what happened."

Willow smiled wearily at me and nodded, saying nothing and everything. Did she know something I didn't? If she did know something, why hadn't she told me? That sad realization that I didn't trust my once best friend spoke volumes as well. Luckily, Xander helped kill the silence. "What are you doing here, Will?"

"Well, I was told that there were some disturbances here, someone using some powerful magic. I'm here to find out who it is before all hell breaks loose, I guess. I really should be going. I didn't mean to show up so late but I just got in and wanted to see you guys."

Xander and I tried to convince her to stay in the spare bedroom, but she turned us down. Part of me was glad because I knew that I didn't feel comfortable with her around Lexi, but I still missed the relationship I once had with her. As she was leaving, I stood next to Xander and she turned back to look at us wistfully while she said, "I still can't believe the two of you got married."

With that, she was gone and I suddenly felt all kinds of tired. Xander, who seemed a lot more intuitive than he used to when we were younger, took my hand and pulled me to the bedroom for sleep and much, much more.


	14. Author's Note

**Changes**

* * *

To the readers:

Thank you for reading "Chosen" thus far and reviewing. It is greatly appreciated. That being said, I am in the process of re-editing the story which means that this version will be deleted soon. There aren't any really big changes except to some of the names and possibly some of the scenes, but I hope to have all of the chapters previously completed back up soon. I hope that you all will still continue to read "Chosen" as it gets its "cosmetic makeover." It is because of you guys that I keep writing.

N. (aka Belle Auteur)

P.S: I will be keeping the old reviews up so everyone can see how far "Chosen" has come thus far.


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